


The Places Where We Go

by crossword



Series: Let their Wings Unfold [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: (FINALLY), Angst, Character Development, Coming Out, Developing Relationship, Disney, Fights, Fluff, Giant dead dogs, Homophobia, Injury Recovery, Internalized Homophobia, Kissing, M/M, Makeup, Movie Night, Opera music, Post-The Blood of Olympus, Pre-The Trials of Apollo, Running Away, Sex Education, Shadow Travel, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:13:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 73,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13527894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossword/pseuds/crossword
Summary: “It’s going to be different, isn’t it,” he mused aloud, looking around at the remaining campers. There were barely twenty of them. Will nodded.“Tell me about it. I’ve only got Kayla and Austin left to boss around. Whatever am I going to do with all this extra time on my hands?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Nico, and the son of Hades felt himself blush again.“We should go,” he replied, gesturing at the other campers, who were trooping back towards the dining pavilion for breakfast. The son of Apollo looked over, his expression partly disappointed and partly approving.“You’re right. We can’t have you missing breakfast now, can we. All right, let’s go.” Nico turned to start trudging up the hill when a warm hand wrapped itself around his wrist, pulling him around. He gasped when Will pressed a brief kiss to his nose.“All right, now we can go,” the son of Apollo commented smugly. Nico gaped at him outraged, but nevertheless allowed himself to be pulled along by their intertwined fingers.





	1. Summer Elysium

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Courting Death](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2496854) by [MsMay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMay/pseuds/MsMay). 



> Hey, look who's back...way later than expected. Sorry about that.  
> So because of a combination of work, writer's block, and who are we kidding, my lazy ass, this is going to be different than usual.  
> Normally, I'd have finished this work six months ago and posted it all in one week so as not to feel too bad about any cliffhangers. But since it looks like I'll be stuck at chapter 8 until approximately ten minutes before the sun burns out, I've decided to start posting the stuff that's been sitting around on my computer since September. It'll be about one chapter every three to seven days. So sit back and enjoy this totally unnecessary serial clusterfluff. Takes place during the autumn and winter after Blood of Olympus and the two previous fics I posted, but before Trials of Apollo. Because who doesn't need more Solangelo in their lives? (Please don't answer that.)

**Nico**

 

Nico tipped his head back, enjoying the feel of the late summer sun on his face. The air was heavy with end-of-camp nostalgia, and, for the older campers, mild hangovers.

 

None of it felt quite real. The blue sky, the green grass, the sweet smell. They’d fought a war this summer. They’d lost so much. So much had changed, so many things would never go back to how they were.

 

“Keep it going while we’re gone, all right, lover boy? No break-ups till we get back.”

 

Nico flushed when Drew and Lacy strode past with their designer suitcases and matching smirks. Unbidden, memories of the previous night rose to the surface of his mind. Will’s hands cupping his face, his thumbs gently tracing his cheekbones. Warm breath fanning across his skin, the smell of mint and disinfectant. Soft lips moving against his.

 

Nico rubbed his arms where goosebumps had appeared.

 

“You okay?”

 

He rolled his eyes when Jason came up to him, a gym bag tossed over his shoulder and his default expression around Nico, careful concern, etched across his stupidly handsome face. The son of Hades shook his head.

 

“Fine.”

 

Jason looked him over appraisingly.

 

“Seriously. It’s just weird. You know. Everyone leaving.” He lapsed into poetic silence.

 

The son of Jupiter considered him for a few more seconds.

 

“You’ll let us know if you need anything, right? Remember, we’re just a phone call away.”

 

Nico rolled his eyes, waving his arm at the son of Jupiter. “Yeah, yeah.”

 

“I’m serious, Nico.”

 

“Yeah, will do.”

 

Cecil brushed by. “Will do indeed,” he snickered. “See you next summer, Goth boy.”

 

Nico sighed, but obliged in a high five as Jason frowned dangerously.

 

“And if Solace tries anything, you should definitely let – ”

 

Piper came up behind her boyfriend and grabbed him by the hood of his sweatshirt.

 

“We gotta get going, bye Nico, keep in touch, love you!” she called cheerfully over her shoulder, dragging Jason after her. Nico smirked back and waved.

 

“And let that son of Apollo know I can be here in six hours, so he better watch it!” yelled the son of Jupiter.

 

Nico buried his face in his hands.

 

“Duly noted,” said an amused voice beside him.

 

Nico automatically spread his fingers to peek at the handsome demigod beside him. He remembered how Will had looked in the light of the fireworks, sprawled out on the blanket next to Nico, watching the show with their fingers loosely intertwined. His eyes had looked like they held the stars when they’d kissed good night, later at his cabin. But seeing him here in the morning light, Nico knew, beyond a doubt, that this was where Will belonged. In the sun.

 

“Hey,” he breathed. He was rewarded with one of the son of Apollo’s million-watt smiles.

 

“’Sup.”

 

The son of Hades almost succeeded at repressing a smile, turning to watch the buses peel away, one by one.

 

“It’s going to be different, isn’t it,” he mused aloud, looking around at the remaining campers. There were barely twenty of them.

 

Will nodded. “Tell me about it. I’ve only got Kayla and Austin left to boss around. Whatever am I going to do with all this extra time on my hands?”

 

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Nico, and the son of Hades felt himself blush again.

 

“We should go,” he replied, gesturing at the other campers, who were trooping back towards the dining pavilion for breakfast. Though not without a few sly glances at the two boys.

 

The son of Apollo looked over, his expression partly disappointed and partly approving.

 

“You’re right. We can’t have you missing meals now, can we. All right, let’s go.”

 

Nico turned to start trudging up the hill when a warm hand wrapped itself around his wrist, pulling him back. He gasped when Will pressed a brief kiss to his nose.

 

“All right, now we can go,” the son of Apollo commented smugly.

 

Nico gaped at him outraged, but nevertheless allowed himself to be pulled along by their intertwined fingers.

 

 

**Will**

 

Will couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy at the end of summer. Last year his brother Michael had died, the year before his brother Lee… okay, no thinking about that. This year, he was dating his crush. Or at least, he assumed he was. Hm, he should probably check that with Nico. He was done making assumptions concerning what the kid knew and didn’t know about dating in this day and age. Although he’d been a pretty fast learner where kissing was concerned. At first he’d been stiff and uncomfortable, but soon, under Will’s gentle prompting, he’d begun moving his lips as well, the feeling…

 

A hand nailed him across the back of the head.

 

“Ew, stop making your “thinking about Nico” face, it’s gross,” grumbled Kayla, settling beside him on the bench with a pile of pancakes absolutely swimming in maple syrup. (So much for stereotypes, Will noted.)

 

The son of Apollo glanced across the pavilion at the Hades table. Nico was sitting alone as usual, stabbing away at a pile of eggs that still looked too small from Will’s perspective.

 

“Hey guys, I was thinking. Since we have loads of room at the table here now, would you mind if Nico joined us?”

 

Austin looked up from the sheet music he was using as a place mat.

 

“We can do that?”

 

Kayla wrinkled her nose. “No we can’t. That’s against the rules, Will.”

 

Austin snickered. “So’s bringing a guy back to the cabin while everyone’s at the fireworks.”

 

“Austin!” his sister hissed, turning crimson.

 

“What? Aw, come on, Kayla, I thought I could trust you,” Will protested.

 

“Oh please, like you didn’t spend the entire night locking lips with your precious son of Hades,” she dismissed.

 

Will chewed for a moment, wondering whether this was a battle he wanted to pick. If it had been Mark again, the guy was gone anyway, so it wasn’t like it mattered.

 

“Fine,” he decided. “But seriously, I’m sure Chiron would understand, if I told him it was for medical reasons -”

 

“Oh, right, _medical_ reasons,” Austin smirked. “Yeah, Chiron will _totally_ believe that.”

 

Kayla sighed, rolling her eyes. “Oh, come on Will, he’s fine, look at him.”

 

The three of them twisted around to look across the pavilion, which in hindsight was not very discrete. Nico choked on the sip of coffee he’d been taking. (Coffee, really? Will had to introduce the kid to hot chocolate) The children of Apollo winced, and Will waved awkwardly before they turned back.

 

“He’s still a bit peaky,” Will argued softly.

 

Kayla rolled her eyes. “Then give him something to eat between meals.”

 

Austin choked on his own drink, spraying orange juice all over the table and his music partitions. Their sister regarded him disgustedly.

 

“Look, I just don’t think Chiron will go for it is all,” she argued, picking up a jazz version of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons between two fingers. “Not unless he starts accidentally ripping holes in the floors or something.”

 

“That would be so awesome,” muttered Austin, mopping up orange juice.

 

 

**Nico**

 

Nico probably could have identified the sound of Will’s flip-flops from a mile away, which was the only reason he didn’t try to decapitate the healer when a set of arms looped around his waist from behind. That, and he’d seen the son of Apollo interact like this with everyone from Kayla to Cecil, putting his weight on them like a shelf as he read over their shoulder. And also he knew they were currently alone in the infirmary office. That was why he accepted it. It had nothing to do with how nice the warmth felt pressed against his back, or the goosebumps that erupted along his arms when a familiar minty breath wafted across his cheek…

 

“Whatcha reading?” murmured the healer, and Nico shook himself, blushing madly.

 

“Um, it’s just something Jason gave me.” He showed the cover to Will.

 

“The Song of Achilles? That’s a good one,” the son of Apollo commented, swaying back and forth and rocking Nico’s whole body in the process. “Mythologically unsound, of course, but great reading.”

 

“Yeah, I, uh... ” Nico trailed off when he felt Will’s breath brush across his neck, and he shivered before suddenly jerking away.

 

He immediately felt awkward. “I, uh,.. Sorry about that,” he muttered, flipping the book in his hands.

 

Will shook his head. “It’s fine. I should really… I get kind of clingy sometimes, and I don’t realize...”

 

They spent a few awkward seconds staring at each other.

 

“Oh my gods, you two are hopeless!” yelled Valentina from outside the office, where she was reclining on her infirmary bed with a glossy magazine. “Take it outside and stop giving me nightmare fodder, would you?”

 

 

 

 

“So I wanted to check something with you,” Will told him as they hurried out of the infirmary, chased by the threat of permanent make-up and radioactive glitter.

 

“Yeah?” Nico asked, running a hand across his mouth to check for any lipstick, just in case.

 

“Yep. So, you’re okay with… ” Will waved his hand in the air between the two of them.

 

“Oh no, did she get you with nail polish?” Nico grabbed the hand to inspect his fingers, which were, thankfully, polish free.

 

“Nah,” Will smiled awkwardly. “I mean, you’re okay with… us, right?”

 

He weakly gestured between them again with the hand Nico wasn’t currently holding. Which Nico dropped like it had caught fire, or possibly fake tips.

 

“I… am,” he voiced in somewhat surprise.

 

Will looked relieved.

 

“Good, because I’ve kind of started referring to you as my boyfriend in my head, and I sometimes accidentally start talking out loud, so I wanted to – ”

 

Nico stumbled back a couple of steps. Boyfriend. Why was that word so frightening. It was just a word, made up of two other simple words. Boy. Friend. Simple. And yet together, it all became so much more complicated. Like “hold hands in public” and “commitment” and “follow you into Tartarus” complicated. (Though granted, maybe that last one was just Percy.) And great. Now Nico was having trouble breathing.

 

Meanwhile, Will was still talking. “Oh my gods, I’m so sorry, I jinxed it, didn’t I? We don’t have to use that word if you don’t want to, I can just discipline my thoughts a bit, just please don’t break up with me, Nico? Nico!”

 

Really, it was fascinating to watch. It was like a switch flipped in Will when he led Nico to sit on the ground and pressed a hand to his wrist and another to his chest, the frantic teenager leaving place to the calm and collected healer who slowly started counting.

 

“Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Just breathe with me, Nico. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. That’s right, you’re fine.”

 

One, two three, four. With each number, breathing became easier, until Nico finally slumped forwards, exhausted, to rest his forehead on Will’s shoulder. The healer gently rubbed his back.

 

After a few more breaths, Nico looked up again. “Sorry about that,” he croaked, his voice dry.

 

Will pulled Nico forwards again to rest his head back on his shoulder. “Don’t apologize,” he murmured soothingly.

 

Nico sighed, closing his eyes, breathing in the comforting scent of Will’s scrub shirt.

 

“I really want to do, you know,… all that with you, but I’m sorry. I think I’m just too damaged.”

 

Will suddenly pushed him back, fixing the son of Hades with a startling glare.

 

“Don’t you say that. Don’t you ever say that.”

 

Nico squeezed his eyes shut, more to block out Will’s glare than anything. “It’s the truth.”

 

He didn’t have much warning. A hint of warm breath wafting across his face, the smell of mint. Suddenly, there were lips on his, probing, insistent. He gasped, and the son of Apollo nipped at his lower lip, drawing Nico in further. Kissing Will was like nothing he knew. It was warm and gentle, but also insistent, and he felt it all the way to the tips of his fingers and toes.

 

When they finally broke apart, Will pressed their foreheads together briefly, leaning away when Nico tried to chase his lips.

 

“Believe me, Nico, a damaged person would not kiss me like that.” Will’s tone was steel. “Now here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to put a pin in this whole conversation. We are not going to use the b-word. We are just going to keep doing b-wordy things like kissing and nice picnics, and me threatening anyone who looks at you with needles until you’re comfortable with the b-word. Understood?”

 

Nico strangely liked this commanding side of Will. It was different from what he’d grown used to, not making his own life-altering decisions, but kind of nice as well. He simply nodded.

 

“Can we not call it that, though?”

 

Will rolled his eyes. “I’ll think of something.” And when Nico tentatively leaned forwards, he smiled, and happily obliged.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually first came across the Song of Achilles in another fic. (Can't find that one either, so if you can, let me know and I'll credit it.) It's about as true to the original Iliad as this fanfic is to Percy Jackson and the Olympians (meaning it makes a lot of "assumptions") but it's still a good book if you want to read something you can actually talk about in polite society.
> 
> Edit: Many thanks to RainyDayKid, who found the fic for us: it's " Courting Death" by MsMay, and it's amazing.


	2. And at last I see the light...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have some fluff.

**Nico**  
  
Left. Dodge. Parry. Step in. Swipe. Deflect.  
  
Malcolm was a pretty good training partner. He was quiet, absolutely focused, and didn’t ask Nico stupid questions about whether he and Will had picked baby names yet. (Maria and Gabriel, Will had immediately replied. “Dude, you’re really going to let him name your kids Maria and Gabriel of the Angel’s Solace?” Valentina had asked Nico. He hadn’t replied, too busy choking on air.)  
  
Malcolm was also wicked fast with a dagger. Not as good as Annabeth, but still quick enough on his feet to keep Nico’s thoughts from being able to stray too far. Since most of the Ares and Athena campers had left, the arena was empty a lot of the time, so training had become less organized, and more one-on-one. Now Nico did sword practice with Sherman Yang and the Victor sisters, unarmed hand-to-hand with Alice, and target-practice with Kayla and Austin. Will also dropped by for that sometimes, and although Kayla often despaired of her brother (how any child of Apollo could only hit a bull’s eye once every five shots was apparently beyond her) Nico enjoyed having him around, especially when the healer would step up behind him to correct his position, and Nico would feel the heat radiating from his body on his back as gentle touches sent shivers up his spine…  
  
Nico cursed as the son of Athena’s dagger grazed his side, flinching back, but he knew the damage was done. They were using rubber blades, but in a real fight, Nico would have been holding his intestines in.  
  
“Get a little distracted there, di Angelo?” Malcolm grinned.  
  
Nico squinted at him in the weak sun.  
  
“Are you wearing blue contacts?”  
  
The other demigod blushed, shrugging.  
  
“Do they work?”  
  
“Well, now your eyes look sort of weird. Why are you wearing contacts?”  
  
The son of Athena hesitated.  
  
“I’m writing a paper on whether physical similarities with a person of interest affect concentration and levels of violence demonstrated during a fight. Would you say that you get distracted more often when my eye color reminds you of Will’s?”  
  
“Will’s eyes aren’t like that,” retorted Nico without thinking. “I mean – what do you mean, person of interest!”  
  
He only barely managed to jump back as the dagger swung, grazing his belly.  
  
“When flustered, subject demonstrates significantly reduced reaction time compared with anger,” Malcolm muttered seemingly into thin air, and Nico squinted.  
  
“Are you wearing a hidden microphone?”  
  
The demigod swung again.  
  
“The Stolls let me have it after I threatened to report their international chocolate smuggling operation to the authorities.”  
  
   
  
After dagger practice, Nico headed back to his cabin to shower and spend the rest of the afternoon reading one of the books Chiron had assigned to him. He’d come to appreciate this peaceful quiet time, which allowed him to put some order in his thoughts after the turmoil and excitement of the last few months, or rather years. He was finally back in a stable place. The world wasn't being threatened. Percy was safe and, ironically, no longer of interest to him. All he had to worry about was homework and the cute boy who was in love with him. It was a nice change of pace. By the time the conch shell sounded for dinner, he found himself feeling surprisingly hungry. The fact came in handy when an arm draped itself over his shoulders as he climbed the steps to the pavilion, and a warm voice drawled in his ear.  
  
"So I updated your meal schedule, but unfortunately, due to someone causing a scene with our patient from the Aphrodite cabin" – Will glared pointedly at Kayla, who was following him, expression subdued – "I forgot it on my desk. Which is why I'm just going to stay and make sure the nymphs give you the right portions and stuff, okay? You know, since your satyr isn’t here to supervise anymore."  
  
"Is that a question?" Nico snarked, trying to figure out whether he wanted to shove the arm off of him, or curl closer.  
  
"Not really." The choice was – regrettably – made for him when Will turned away to call to his siblings.  
  
"You two get started, I'll be there in a second."  
  
The son of Hades did his best to ignore the matching smirks the other Apollo campers were sporting as Will guided him to his table with a hand to the small of his back.  
  
"Let me know if it's too much, all right?" Will muttered to him as they sat down. "The touching and stuff. I just really wanted to, and yeah, I probably should for your health, but I can tone it down if it makes you too uncomfortable."  
  
Nico twisted his fingers in the napkin on the table, contemplative. "No, it's okay, " he finally answered. "I don't mind."  
  
Will's answering grin seemed to light up the entire pavilion in the early dusk.  
  
"Great!" he replied, immediately covering Nico's hand with his own. "So I figured we could slowly start upping your portions again, you’ve been doing nicely enough that we can even lay off the meat and add in some less efficient food sources."  
  
Nico watched with mixed feelings as the healer started piling what already seemed like a lot of food on his plate. He wondered how much of it he could sneak into his sacrifice to Hades. Then again, he wasn't sure how much his father would appreciate the salad and corn. No doubt it would remind him a bit too much of his mother-in-law.  
  
"Oh, and by the way." Will's voice broke him out of his musings. "My siblings and I were planning on having a movie marathon tonight, since there's no campfire. We were wondering whether you'd like to come? There's a couple of people from other cabins dropping by as well, so you wouldn't be an outsider, or anything." He looked hopefully at Nico as he stood from the table. "It could sort of be an introduction to modern cinema for you."  
  
Nico didn't want to take too long answering – Chiron was looking pointedly in their direction, and the sound of an argument was drifting over from the Apollo table – but he wasn't quite sure. On the one hand, it was the Apollo cabin again, where they’d had the party, and Nico had freaked out and almost ruined everything. On the other hand, the Hades cabin would be empty. And dark.  
  
"Sure, why not?" he heard himself answering.  
  
  
**Will**  
  
Dinner went by, quick and dull. Will divided his time between keeping his siblings from killing each other with catapult peas, and pretending not to be spying on Nico. He did notice that quite a few of the other year-rounders were throwing glances at the boy, but he put it down to him being more noticeable now that the prophecy people were gone.  
  
Once dinner was over and nobody had been dive-bombed to death with greens by Kayla’s wicked accurate aim, Will had little trouble herding his siblings back to their cabin to set up the traditional pillow forts for movie night. As they fell into an animated discussion (read, argument) about what genre to settle on, Will fell back to keep an eye out for Nico. Since he'd figured the son of Hades would duck back to his cabin to change into his pajamas, like most of the other non-Apollo campers that usually joined them, he was a little surprised to see him awkwardly make his way in their direction, still in his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and the jeans Austin had donated after they stopped fitting because he'd made a snide remark about the length of Lacy from Aphrodite's skirt. (To be perfectly honest, the ensuing spectacle of his brother's clothes spontaneously shrinking on him had been pretty funny.) The son of Hades reached him just as he was climbing the porch to his cabin.  
  
"Hey," he greeted over the sound of his siblings pushing around the bunk beds inside. "All set? Or do you want to go change into your pajamas quick?"  
  
At Nico's slightly panicky expression, he quickly added, "You don't have to, I just want you to be comfortable. It's what most of us do."  
  
As if on cue, Julia and Alice climbed up the steps behind them, sporting matching ninja turtle pajamas. When they caught sight of the two of them, the girls smirked as they walked past.  
  
"Hey boys. We’ll just be inside then, all right? Be good now." Julia gave a little wave before leaving the door not quite shut.  
  
Will gritted his teeth and slammed the door after the demigoddesses. "Sorry about them. Hermes kids, what can you do?" He laughed nervously.  
  
Nico shook his head, like he was trying to clear it.  
  
"No problem. But, um. I actually threw out my old pajamas, and the ones the Aphrodite kids got me are…” The son of Hades trailed off, blushing furiously, and Will’s mind suddenly conjured the image of Nico in a pair of tight silk shorts and an open shirt. The humidity seemed to get sucked right out of his mouth and he coughed, hoping he wasn’t as red as he felt.  
  
“They’re something the Aphrodite cabin would wear, I imagine.” Nyssa snorted dismissively as she climbed up onto the porch, pulling along her brother Harley. He was dressed in power rangers pajamas made of what Will was pretty sure was flame-retardant cloth, his eyes wide and full of energy as ever.  
  
“Hey, don’t talk like that about the Aphrodite kids’ pjs,” Connor called, jogging up behind them. “We got paid good money to smuggle in this one nightie for Drew, man, I would have paid more to see her in it.”  
  
The daughter of Hephaestus snorted again. “Like you would know what good money is, Stoll.”  
  
“I will have you know, Barrera,” Connor tripped up the steps while attempting to button up his own ninja turtles shirt as well, “that Hermes handles all deals, good and bad. And that was most definitely a good deal.”  
   
On any other day, Will probably wouldn’t have minded the son of Hermes’s lean chest peeking through the still unbuttoned shirt. But right now, with the image of Nico in Aphrodite pyjamas still seared into his mind, and the sight of his renewed blush when he saw the child of Hermes's smooth pecs, a wave of irritation swept through him instead.  
  
"Connor, seriously. There are kids around? Button up."  
  
The other boy shrugged, smirking, and started closing his shirt (still wrongly), following Nyssa and Harley inside  
  
"So, so very sorry."  
  
Nico shrugged, still blushing madly.  
  
"Better than when they were afraid of me."  
  
Will frowned, reaching out to the son of Hades instinctively.  
  
"You know, I have a pair of extra sweatpants you could borrow.”  
  
  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Nico was outfitted in a pair of Will's sweatpants (and yeah, he'd secretly offered up his newest, nicest pair for Valentina to shrink) and one of his softest T-shirts, the one with a Ramones logo Will's mom had given him from her youthful days, and he had to admit, the sight of his angel dressed in his clothes was pretty satisfying.  
  
The cabin was in a state of complete disarray, the bunk beds shoved against the walls, and all the pillows and blankets dumped in the central area in front of the ancient TV they'd borrowed from the Hephaestus cabin. After shoving Kayla and Connor aside to make room, he invited Nico to sit next to him in the space he'd cleared. As the son of Hades settled on the mattress, Will grabbed the clipboard with the movie votes from Kayla.  
  
"We've decided on Disney movies," he explained. (In reality, "we" was a pretty big word. As the only cabin counselor dealing with a young kid, Nyssa had made an executive decision to exclude all horror and action movies, arguing she didn’t want to either scare Harley, or give him ideas for more destructive robots.)  
  
Nico slowly scanned the list of titles, shaking his head.  
  
"I don't recognize any of these," he admitted. "All we had in the forties was Snow White and Pinocchio."  
  
Harley wrinkled his nose. "Pinocchio is scary, though. I don't wanna watch that."  
  
Will smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, kiddo. We usually go with newer ones anyway. Trust me, you'll like them," he added to Nico. "Looks like The Lion King, Brave, and my own personal favorite, Tangled, are in the lead again."  
  
"Especially since you just changed a bunch of the votes," Harley unhelpfully pointed out. Will attempted to fake smother the kid with a pillow until Austin grabbed the clipboard back from him, scowling at it suspiciously. Straightening and attempting to catch his breath, Will beamed at the son of Hades, who had a smile playing at his lips.  
  
"So, against all odds," his brother announced. "We are once again watching Will's favorite, Tangled,  
Kayla's favorite, Brave, and," – he paused to make a couple of marks on the clipboard, to boos and  
general ruckus from the laughing demigods – "Frozen, my favorite."  
  
A couple of seats away, Julia moaned, slumping back against Connor. "Seriously, you people, what's  
wrong with a masterpiece like El Dorado?"  
  
Alice pulled her pillow from under her sister and whacked her over the head with it. "Quit complaining, there's thieves in Tangled too."  
  
This seemed to be the signal everyone had been waiting for to start a routine impromptu pillow fight. Although Will was once again the main target of his siblings, he still made sure to shield  
Nico as best as he could. The son of Hades looked a little tense amid the flying feathers, though no one, for now, had worked up the courage to attack him directly.  
  
Once the pillows had been plumped, "Frozen" had been popped into the DVD player, and Connor had broken out the contraband candy and popcorn he'd smuggled in as payment, Will was able to discretely scoot closer to Nico, who was watching in rapt wonder.  
  
"Pretty good, right?" he murmured as young Elsa was serenaded by a group of rock trolls.  
  
Nico nodded, not taking his eyes from the screen, and even stuffing a mouthful of popcorn away when Will tipped some into his hand. Clearly, Will decided, movies nights were beneficial to the son of Hades's eating habits, and he wondered whether he'd be able to spin this in a non-selfserving way to Chiron. Nico apparently liked Frozen. A lot more than he liked Brave, anyway. As the son of Apollo watched him watch the movie (he'd seen it dozens of times, courtesy of Kayla), he noticed his scowl deepen more and more, barely lightening as the story came to its carefree happy ending. Will belatedly realized that a tale of a girl leaving behind her family and romance to go adventuring with a bow and arrow might have struck a little too close to home for Nico. It was amid halfhearted protests from the slowly dozing off crowd that he hurriedly switched out the disks the moment the credits started rolling. They usually ended with Tangled, because the softer songs were gentle enough to lull most of the younger kids to sleep. Sure enough, by the time Rapunzel was steering her rowboat back to shore, Nyssa was able to lift up a comatose Harley and bid hers farewells. The rest of the demigods settled in comfortably for the end of the movie, knowing they would most likely be spending the night where they were. Even Nico seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open, and somewhere between Flynn being brought back from the dead and being yanked into a family group hug, he'd passed out against Will's side. Pointedly ignoring the smirks from his friends and siblings, Will carefully pulled a blanket over the demigof before stretching out next to him. Though he moved slowly, Nico still murmured in his sleep and curled closer. The son of Apollo's last thought as Austin switched off the TV and he called lights out, was that he could get used to this. Halfway to Morpheus already, he wrapped an arm around Nico and sank into sleep.


	3. Oh darling, only the good die young

**Nico**

 

It was warm. Nico pressed himself closer, away from the probing fingers of the rising sun and the slight draft of morning air from one of the windows, which had been left ajar the previous night.

 

Wait… He always kept his windows firmly sealed.

 

Nico’s eyes snapped open to show him Will’s solid back. Abruptly sitting up, he was able to look around and see Kayla and Austin slowly moving about, keeping quiet to avoid waking anyone.

 

“Good morning,” Kayla murmured, smirking slightly. “No need to get up, I thing Will would enjoy faking sleep a little bit longer.”

 

Nico glanced over at the boy laying next to him, and indeed, the healer was lazily stretching onto his back, sticking his tongue out at his sister. The son of Hades froze, blushing like a tomato as Will slowly sat up.

 

“Good morning,” he mumbled, before stretching again and yawning widely. His hair was a mess, golden curls falling all over his face. Nico abruptly stumbled to his feet.

 

“I… I should go. I promised. I mean, I promised Hazel I’d… you know. I’d Iris her.”

 

He quickly averted his gaze from the sliver of tan stomach peeking from under Will’s shirt as he backed out the door. But not quickly enough not to see the kiss the son of Apollo blew him.

 

“See you at breakfast!” the healer yelled after him, before Nico heard what sounded like half a dozen pillows hitting someone.

 

“Shut. Up!” The voices of the previously sleeping people yelled.

 

 

Once he’d finally stumbled into his cabin, Nico practically slammed the door shut and pressed his back against it, slowly sinking to the floor. Breathe, he told himself. He could do this. It was only other people, he’d never cared what they thought. He just needed a minute to calm down and push back these sensations he was having. These dirty thoughts. He almost snarled as he felt the hardness between his legs, digging his nails into his thigh in the hope that the pain would make it go away. He was still wearing the sweatpants Will had given him, he noticed. He groaned, slamming his fist against the floor. He was so sick of feeling like this. He’d thought for sure with Will it would be different from Percy, Will was so wholesome, so pure, what was wrong with him to be feeling like this? Finally, after what seemed like forever, the feeling slowly ebbed away and he slumped on the floor, wrung out despite the night of excellent sleep he’d gotten. Absently his eyes wandered across the cabin, untouched since he’d last left it. Except for that scroll on the desk. That had definitely not been there when he’d left.

 

 

“I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!”

 

From a detached, common sense point of view, Nico realized that a son of Hades storming through camp yelling bloody murder probably wasn’t the best way to improve his reputation. But right now, he was sending said detached, common sense point of view to hell. He was furious. Hazel had cried. That flaming son of Hephaestus was going to pay for not actually being dead.

 

 

“So tell us exactly how you got this scroll, Nico.”

 

Chiron was clearly attempting to restore some order to the chaos that was the emergency head counselor meeting he’d just called. Chiara, Malcolm and Damian were arguing loudly about survival statistics while Nyssa slumped in a chair, looking shell shocked. Jason and Piper were alternatively yelling questions through one of the Iris messages that had been sent, while Percy and Annabeth could be seen hugging in another rainbow. Reyna kept trying to call for order as Hazel stared blankly into the distance. Harley had somehow sneaked into the break room and was sobbing into Will’s shirt as the healer attempted to calm him. Laurel and Holly Victor were engaged in a fierce match of ping pong. And Nico sat stiffly in his chair, arms tightly crossed as he explained once again how he’d found the scroll, obviously left there by a cloud nymph.

 

“ So that’s it then. He’s alive. Somewhere.” Frank seemed to be holding it together better than most of the other half-bloods.

 

“I’m going to go look for him,” Jason said immediately. The room once again descended into chaos as everyone started volunteering for quests. Nico slumped further in his chair, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. He knew he should probably go out there as well. With his shadow travel, he’d be able to cover more ground than anyone else. And he’d been getting stronger in the past couple of weeks, he was probably healthy enough to leave again. He just really didn’t want to, he realized.

 

There was finally a shout from the door that caused everyone to quiet down. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, oddly enough, was wearing a cocktail dress, though true to form it was already covered in paint splatters.

 

“We can’t go after them.”

 

Arguing immediately erupted again.

 

“There’s something weird going on with the prophecies, it’s not going to be safe!” the oracle yelled out again. That immediately got everyone’s attention. It had been barely two years since they’d restored the Pythia, any new trouble was likely to be nasty. Most of the Greek campers seemed to fall in line as Chiron and Rachel went over the problems the oracle was experiencing. Reyna nodded along and promised to check in with the temple of Apollo at Camp Jupiter. By the end of the meeting, only Piper and Jason were still holding out for a search party.

 

“I’m sorry, guys, but he’s our best friend. We can’t just sit around.” The daughter of Aphrodite glared through the Iris message defensively as her boyfriend bustled about in the background, throwing stuff into a set of backpacks. “We’ll stick together, it’ll be safe enough, but we have to do something.”

 

Chiron seemed to resign himself to the idea that he couldn't stop the two demigods. “You have a week until the start of school.”

 

 

**Hazel**

 

“So anyway, how are you doing?”

 

Hazel attempted a subdued smile at her brother on the other side of the rainbow. They’d taken to Iris Messaging every week, but in the ruckus of all the part-timers moving out of the military camp to head back to school for the fall, Hazel hadn’t had time to contact him the previous Sunday. Now she’d gotten back into the flow of things, the barracks strangely quiet with just a skeleton crew of officers and a couple of year-round soldiers – kids like Nico and Hazel, who didn’t have anywhere else to go. 

And then in the ruckus of Leo’s sort-of return, they hadn’t had a chance to properly chat either,  so immediately after returning to her room from the meeting, she’d sent another Iris message.

 

“Well, I’m going to kill Leo for making you cry, but apart from that… ”

 

Sweet as ever.

 

“That’s nice of you, but seriously Nico. How are you? I guess Camp Half-Blood must be pretty empty as well.” She frowned worriedly. “Do you have people to hang out with? Someone to talk to?” Her brother didn’t seem too lonely, in fact he looked better than he had in a long time. He’d gained some weight and his skin was no longer sickly pale, at least.

 

“Yeah, I’ve got Will. And his siblings too!” For some reason, Nico blushed, and Hazel thought back to the other times the Apollo kids came up. Nico probably had a crush on one of them, she decided.

 

“Really,” she smirked. “And what are their names?”

 

“Austin and Kayla,” Nico muttered. Ah. Kayla. Hazel dug through her memories, trying to find the girl. Hadn’t there been a redhead in the infirmary when she’d visited her brother? A girl with a no nonsense tone to her voice. A good choice, she decided. Her brother needed someone like that in his life, to boss him into looking after himself.

 

“Anyway, how’s everything over in California? How are Reyna and Frank?” Nico seemed eager to get off the topic.

 

“They’re fine,” the daughter of Pluto dismissed. “Much more relaxed now that the summer’s over, the Senate doesn’t reconvene until the Winter Solstice. By then we’re hoping the new augur will have settled in. They weren’t happy with her, but after the scandal surrounding the guy they picked, it wasn’t like they had much of an excuse to stop us. And the new one doesn’t get along with the rest of the Apollo legacies, which Reyna says is good for us.”

 

“Yeah, I heard about that. Didn’t they find some documents connecting the other guy to Gaea in the basement of the Apollo temple?” Nico was completely straight-faced.

 

“Where would you get that idea,” she smirked. “I was very careful.”

 

Her brother finally caved and smirked back.

 

“You’re becoming a true Roman politician, sister mine.”

 

“There’s no need to be insulting now,” she muttered, pleased in spite of herself. The mention reminded her of something else she’d wanted to talk to her brother about.

 

“By the way, Reyna had the entire legion attend a talk… ” Hazel trailed off, uncertain about how to proceed. She was very comfortable around her brother, as he was with her, but still. Things like this simply weren’t _talked_ about. Or at least they didn’t use to be. She’d been quite shocked at the praetor’s announcement.

 

“What about?” Her brother frowned through the rainbow.

 

Hazel glanced around her at the empty barracks  before pulling herself together. She knew she needed to talk about this to someone who understood.

 

“It was about… _sex,_ ” she muttered through the Iris Message, bringing up a hand to fan herself. She’d been trying to break that habit, but it kept sneaking up on her.

 

“Oh.” To her everlasting relief, her brother reacted in a similar way she had, blushing deeply and breaking eye contact, unlike all the other officers at the seminar, who had, completely straight-faced, handed out not just pamphlets describing… _intimate_ parts, but also even _condoms_ like it was no big deal. Thankfully, Reyna had seemed to sense Hazel’s discomfort and so hadn’t picked her for one of those jobs.

 

“Yeah. That’s how I reacted the whole time,” she admitted, still a bit embarrassed. She had a boyfriend, this should not have been so new to her (although Frank, the sweetheart, had absolutely stumbled over himself to agree when she’d gathered her courage and looked him in the eye to tell him that she would be waiting for marriage, as was proper).

 

“I guess I was just wondering whether you already knew about how people act about… _that_ in this century, and if not, then to warn you.” The daughter of Pluto looked down at her fingers awkwardly. “They even,… they even condone…  ” she glanced around again before leaning forwards, “… men and men doing… you know.”

 

When she glanced back up at her brother, she saw he’d jerked back like he’d been stabbed.

 

“I know,” she quickly reassured him. “I know. It’s just not right. But you probably shouldn’t say anything to people, they got pretty mad when I did.”

 

Nico, she noticed, had started wringing his fingers together.

 

“I have to go,” he told her abruptly.

 

“But Nico, you haven’t even-”

 

The Iris Message was cut off when her brother waved a hand through it, not even giving her a chance to say good-bye. She stared at the place where it had been, frowning. What had that been about? Maybe there had been an emergency?

 

She quickly got off her bed, deciding to go find one of the praetors, just in case. The diamond she’d been using for the Iris Message lay forgotten on her sheets, throwing rainbows across the room. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because I foresee a bunch of you getting mad about Hazel, I'd like to share a quick story first.
> 
> In high school, I had a very nice friend who reminded me a lot of Hazel. Very sweet and funny, always shared her notes, sang in a choir, devout Christian, etc...   
> One day, I mentioned the legalization of gay marriage to her, and lo and behold, my sweet and tolerant friend turns out to be a raging homophobe.
> 
> So yeah. You never know.


	4. Who let the (dead) dogs out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies to any English Lit majors, ye olde Englishe is not my specialty.

**Grover**

 

He didn’t like being back in the city. There were too many memories here for him nowadays. Dryads falling, Central Park burning. Even that lovely maple tree they’d trapped Hyperion in. Percy didn’t seem to mind it – of course not, the guy had grown up here, this city was his home long before it was a battleground. But for Grover, there wasn’t much appeal to the Big Apple – a pretty ironic name considering how unnatural the place had become. Nothing but buildings and pavement everywhere you looked. And that was before you’d fought a war in the place.

 

He sighed, nervously rubbing the acorns he’d used for the tracking charm in his hand. He shouldn’t be here. There was a protest against another pipeline he’d wanted to attend in South Dakota. But instead, he was back in New York, looking for Nico _again._ Seriously. One of these days he was going to collar the kid, and this as a satyr who greatly disapproved of collars.

 

B ut Chiron had insisted, and as a member of the  Council of  Cloven  Elders , the centaur still had a certain amount of sway over him. Grover had brought Nico in from his school, which apparently gave him  some sort of responsibility over the son of Hades, everything from supervising his meals to tracking him down when he ran away  _again_ . 

 

At least this time, it was less probable that the demigod had used Daedalus’s labyrinth to get out of camp, considering, you know, that he’d killed Daedalus. And Will Solace had insisted that he wouldn’t have been able to shadow-travel further than the greater New York area, and was no doubt passed out, half transparent, in a ditch somewhere.  The healer had looked pretty frantic, like being passed out in a ditch wasn’t something that happened regularly to to demigods on quests, and even normal people. Probably. What did he know, he was just a satyr.  But Grover was pretty sure the son of Apollo was the  bigger  reason they were all out in force looking for a demigod whose comings and goings – mostly goings – everyone should have been used to by now.  He’d even dragged the people going to various boarding schools in the area out to join the search parties.  Annabeth had  dusted off Daedalus’s old satellite s hield to efficiently comb the more out of the way  places , while the rest of the demigods and assorted nature spirits left at camp spread out to  use a more traditional form of searching .  That was to say, w alking around and looking.

 

A  car honked to their right and the loud noise made the satyr flinch.

 

“Up around the corner here, you said?” Percy asked him. His friend had the same expression he tended to wear during quests, Grover noted nervously. Troubled and somehow focused at the same time.

 

“Um, yeah. I mean, I haven’t done tracking magic in a while, and even then, I’m not really used to looking for auras like Nico’s but,… ”

He had to hurry on as Percy pushed ahead,  disappearing around the corner .

 

Despite the fact that they’d technically gone to school together for close to six months before the extraction, Grover hadn’t gotten to know Nico all that well during th at time. He’d mostly focused on his older sister Bianca, because her brother basically did whatever she said anyway. All he remembered was a goofy kid who  always wanted to play Mythomagic.  Not the kind of  person who’d run away to a graveyard.

 

“Somehow, I think you did pretty good, G-man,” Percy commented.

 

 

Grover was rethinking his whole wish for more green areas in the city. The cemet e ry was certainly green – thick grass wrapped around graves covered in flowers, and old trees stood watch – but with the September mist and the general smell of  _dead,_ the whole place had a vibe that was definitely not satyr-friendly. 

 

Apparently, Percy agreed, because he silently pulled out his pen and drew Riptide. The celestial bronze quickly started collecting droplets of water from the fog.

 

“Wanna split up?” Percy joked tersely as they slowly advanced into the cemetery.

 

“Thanks, but I think I’ll keep you around as bait,” Grover answered lightly, his fingers tensing around his pipes. He scanned the fog nervously.

 

“There’s something here, isn’t there.”

 

Percy grimaced. “Obviously. We better find Nico soon, if he’s in any shape close to what Will suspects, he’s not going to be up to fight anything.”

 

Together, they started sweeping the cemetery. The falling darkness didn’t really help Grover’s nerves, and neither did the light drizzle that eventually started.

 

It was when they reached the side of the graveyard bordered by an old church that Grover heard it. A low growl.

 

“ _Who dare_ _th_ _. Who dare_ _th_ _come here to mine territory after dark.”_

 

Grover immediately reached out and grabbed Percy by the back of the coat.

 

“What?” his friend whispered to him, eyes darting around in the fading light. “It’s just a dog. Right?”

 

From his tone, Grover knew that the last question was more wishful thinking than anything else.

 

“Depends,” he whispered back. “Do your dogs usually talk like they’re two hundred years old?”

 

The son of Poseidon rolled his eyes.

 

“I hate the ones that haven’t caught up with the times yet. Come on, let’s go find it.”

 

Grover was spared the objection that going looking for a two-hundred year old monster dog in a graveyard wasn’t exactly what Darwin had had in mind, when they looked up and found themselves cornered.

 

It looked like a hellhound. Big, black, glowy eyes, the works.

 

Except that when Percy stepped forwards and took a swing at it, his sword went straight through.

 

“Oh boy,” Grover whimpered under his breath, before the obviously-not-a-hellhound lunged at him and he rolled out of the way.

 

“Okay, new plan,” panted Percy as they ran along a row of gravestones. “I distract the dog. You look for Nico, and maybe give my girlfriend a call so she can tell us what that thing is.”

 

“Solid plan. I miss having Annabeth around to keep you from attacking random stuff. Duck!” He managed to shove Percy aside when the dog launched itself at their backs.

 

Percy figured out how to draw the dog’s attention pretty quickly when he knocked over the gravestone he’d crashed into. The dog snarled and immediately set about trying to tear him to bits, completely ignoring Grover. Ducking behind a mausoleum, the satyr fumbled for his panpipes, cursing under his breath as he tossed the acorns at the ground. A quick few notes of “Country roads”, and he had an approximate direction to set off in.

 

The growls had barely faded to the other side of the graveyard when he tripped over something. Something alive, despite smelling just as dead as everything else in a ten-meter radius.

 

Oh, and it groaned. Grover quickly flipped onto his back, scrambling away before his eyes managed to make out the thing’s shape in the darkness.

 

“Nico?” he whispered, immediately crawling back over to roll the demigod onto his side. The son of Hades didn’t look too good. His skin was ashen and Grover was pretty sure humans weren’t supposed to be see-through.

 

A yell sounded from the general direction Percy had taken the not-a-hellhound in.

 

“Come on, Nico, time to go.” He attempted to pull the son of Hades to his feet. His hands felt cold and clammy. Another yell.

 

“Fine,” decided the satyr, making a split-second decision. He quickly bent his knees and hoisted the demigod over his shoulder, potato-sack style, reaching down to grab the backpack he’d spotted on the ground at the same time. Laden down with semi-conscious demigod, he started lumbering towards the yells, pulling an old dumb phone out of his pocket. 

 

“Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up… Annabeth!”

 

“What have you gotten yourselves into?!”

 

“It looks like a transparent hellhound and it doesn’t like it when people knock over grave markers.”

 

The yells and sounds of crumbling rock came closer. Annabeth sighed in his ear.

 

“Let me guess. That’s what Seaweed Brain is doing right now.”

 

“Yep.”

 

He heard the sound of shuffling and keys being pressed on a computer.

 

“Please tell me you found Nico, at least?”

 

The son of Hades groaned over his shoulder.

 

“Hey, Annabeth.”

 

“Nico! Oh my gods, are you okay? You scared us, Will was practically in tears. Don’t you ever – “

 

There was a loud roar and a thud when Percy went flying through the air and smacked into a pillar next to them.

 

“Perrrcy!” Grover couldn’t quite keep the bleat out of his voice, hobbling over as fast as he could.

 

“Hey guys!” The son of Poseidon smiled a little crookedly, blood running down from a nick in his forehead. “You know, I can’t touch it, but turns out it can touch me, isn’t that weird?”

 

Another sigh came through the phone. “Look, I’m really trying to figure out what it is, could you just keep from getting killed for another few – “

 

“Grim.”

 

“Great, now they’re both loopy.” Grover quickly lowered the son of Hades next to Percy, putting himself between the approaching not-a-hellhound and the demigods. He switched the phone to speaker and tossed it at the son of Poseidon.

 

“Hey Wise Girl,” the demigod groaned, rubbing his head.

 

“Hey Seaweed Brain. Please don’t get killed before the school year even starts.”

 

“I won’t. I haven’t even distracted you from homework with kisses yet.”

 

“You two are gross,” muttered Nico. “It’s a grim, by the way.”

 

“Annabeth?” Grover called. “Any time now. All I’ve got is you and some panpipes.”

 

“It’s a, a… grim!” Nico called out again, collapsing forwards. Percy tried to catch him, but ended up face-planting as well.

 

“Yeah, very grim, I know, thanks for the info.” Grover scowled, tightening his grip on the pan pipes. He could see the dog’s back paws tensing as it prepared to pounce again.

 

“No, wait! Grover! That’s it. It’s a grim!”

 

“I know it’s grim, Annabeth!” yelled the satyr at the phone, dodging the hound as it went flying into a statue of an angel. “Now tell me something I don’t know! I’m starting to get serious Medusa flashbacks here!”

 

“Grover, it’s a grim. A black dog,” the daughter of Athena repeated, as though she was speaking to a three year old.

 

“Oh, really,” snarked Percy, staggering to his feet and trying to pull Nico up. “I could have sworn that was a cat.”

 

Nico shook his head, leaning against the son of Poseidon. “You guys are idiots. We need to get out of here.”

 

“He’s right,” Annabeth called. “There’s really no other way of defeating it, but it’s territory should be limited to the area of the graveyard.”

 

“Wait, what? Why?” Grover dodged another snap of the dog’s jaws, belting out a quick tune from “Footloose” to get weeds to tangle its paws.

 

“Grims are graveyard wardens in English and Scandinavian folklore,” Annabeth explained in her best “I’m a teacher and also safely on the non-lethal end of this phone call” voice. “Usually the ghost of a dog which was buried alive in the cemetery when it was founded.” 

 

“That’s nice,” muttered Percy, dragging the son of Hades between gravestones as he headed for the street.

 

“Violent death makes the spirit more likely to hang around,” mumbled Nico, yawning. “But they don’t usually attack unless they think you’re here to desecrate the graves. Some of them are really cute.”

 

“Yeah, we’ll keep that in mind if we’re ever looking for a pet for you.” Grover took cover behind a mausoleum as the dog charged past before attempting to make a run for it.

 

In the end, they barely made it out of the gate of the graveyard, slamming it shut on the dog’s vicious barking. Percy immediately set Nico down on the curb before pulling out a bag of ambrosia.

 

“Here. Eat. Now start talking. What the Hades, Nico? You said you were staying, do you have any idea how worried we were when you just disappeared again?”

 

The son of Hades just shrugged tiredly, chewing on the ambrosia, but Grover could see him trembling. His lips looked like they were turning blue.

 

“Percy, we can sort that out later. First we need to get out of the rain.”

 

His friend took a deep breath before nodding. “Fine. Annabeth, I’m hanging up, I need to call my mom.”

 

 

 

** A nnabeth **

 

Percy’s stepfather Paul answered the door, looking harried.

 

“Hey Annabeth, come on in, let’s get you out of the cold.”

 

She smiled, taking in the way his hair stood on end, like he’d been running his hands through it a lot.

 

“Hi. I take it Percy and the others are here already.”

 

He nodded. “In the living room. They’re not hurt, thanks to the ambrosia, but Nico… ”

 

“Still doesn’t look too good, I bet,” she completed, hanging up her coat in the hallway. “Shadow travel does that to him. A couple of other campers are coming over, including a medic, a son of Apollo. He’ll be able to help.”

 

Paul nodded, leading her down the hallway.

 

“So how’s Sally? How’s the bun?” she smiled. She loved Percy’s mother.

 

“Still baking.” Paul immediately lit up at the mention of his pregnant wife.

 

“That’s great! Hey guys.”

 

The two demigods and Grover were sitting around the living room, dressed in pairs of Percy’s old pajamas and sipping at cups of what smelled like hot chocolate. Nico had a blanket wrapped around him, and Sally was sitting on the coffee table in front of him, taking his temperature.

 

“You’re still really low, sweetie, are you sure you don’t want to have a hot bath,” she was saying worriedly, shaking the thermometer. Nico shifted uncomfortably, but otherwise didn’t move when she pressed a hand to his forehead.

 

“I’m fine, Mrs Jackson, thank you,” he muttered into his mug.

 

Sally pursed her lips. “Well, if you’re sure. Make sure to have a brownie too, all right? You’re too skinny for your age.” She  rose to her feet, her frown clearing up when she saw the daughter of Athena.

 

“Annabeth! I was wondering when you’d show up. Come here.”

 

The demigoddess suddenly found herself being swept up in a warm hug. She could just barely feel the nudge of a baby bump against her own stomach.

 

“Hey Sally, you look great!”

 

Percy’s mother pulled back, beaming.

 

“Nah, I’m starting to get big! Here, have a brownie, sweetheart.” She leaned down and grabbed one out of Percy’s hand, pushing it at Annabeth.

 

“Hey! I was going to eat that!” the son of Poseidon complained.

 

“Didn’t I raise you to be a good host?” his mother tutted, rumpling his hair.

 

“I got attacked by a dead dog today,” Annabeth’s boyfriend grumbled, leaning forwards to grab another brownie off the plate on the coffee table. Sally rolled her eyes and snatched it away, passing it to Grover and Nico first.

 

The daughter of Athena smiled. She loved coming by the Jackson-Blofis household. Percy and his mother were the closest people she knew. She liked to joke that she would only ever have second place as the woman in Percy’s life (which her boyfriend vehemently denied) but deep down, she didn’t mind. She could only hope to have such a good relationship with her children someday. If the bitch goddess of childbirth allowed it, that was. Note to self: stop referring to her as the bitch goddess.

 

 

T here was suddenly a pounding at the door that made all the demigods in the room flinch, until Paul jogged out to open it again.

 

Will Solace immediately stormed into the room, still wearing his rain coat, until his eyes zeroe d in on Nico, who gone pale (well, paler) and  he heaved a sigh of relief.

 

“Nico,” he breathed, stumbling forwards until he was crouching next to Nico’s knee, and Annabeth had a ridiculous vision of him pulling out a ring and proposing on the spot. Instead, the son of Apollo just gently leaned forwards to put a hand on his leg. Nico visibly relaxed and then tensed again, looking away.

 

“Nico,” Will whispered again hoarsely, his face drawn. “Why?”

 

While the whole room held its breath, the son of Hades seemed to shrink into himself, eyes squeezing shut, before shaking his head violently.

 

“All right, give him some space.” Surprisingly, it was Paul who moved forwards, putting his hand on Will’s shoulder to guide him back. The healer didn’t resist, eyes still fixed on Nico’s face, his expression close to heartbroken. Annabeth could feel her own heart squeezing at the sight of it. She’d known Will for years, ever since he’d come to Camp, not as well as she’d known his brothers Lee and Michael, but well enough. He was one of the calmest demigods she knew, always steady and in control, and it hurt to see him like this.

 

Nevertheless, he stepped back, shrugging out of his coat and greeting everyone in the room with nods and brittle smiles. Connor and Kayla had also come, she noticed when she saw them in the door, Conner weighing the keys to a camp van in his hand.

 

“We do have to talk about it, though.” Percy finally broke the terse silence with his usual lack of any sort of deference for the atmosphere, munching on a brownie. “Why did I and Grover have to go to a creepy cemetery and fight the dead version of a hellhound to get your ass – ” he pointed the brownie at Nico “ – back to Camp?”

 

Nico shook his head again, eyes squeezed shut.

 

“Percy,” Grover tried to intervene, but the son of Poseidon shook him off.

 

“No. We are having this conversation. We were _worried_ , Nico, when you just up and disappeared. We all care about you and we deserve to know. _What. Happened.”_

 

“Percy, don’t –“

 

“No, Will, you were frantic when you called, do not just write this off, this – ”

 

“But does it have to be now – ”

 

“No, mom, now, when it’s still fresh, so that– ”

 

“Percy, come on, man – “

 

“No, I agree with him, this is insane, Will, this is just not okay, we all looked for him, we deserve to know – “

 

“Not your fight Kayla, seriously, stay out of – “

 

“Oh please, everyone in this room is involved, this is – “

 

“Guys, not helping, would you just – “

 

“I talked to Hazel.”

 

Everyone in the room froze, looking over at the son of Hades.

 

“And this is relevant because… ” Kayla started before half the room could shush her.

 

Nico twisted his hands in the blanket.

 

“I don’t know, I just… they had a… a sexual – he stumbled a little over the word – education class at Camp Jupiter, and apparently she found out about people like, like me, and she was just going on about how wrong it was and I just. I just… ”

 

The words seemed to run out, and he curled back into himself. The whole room was motionless, except for Will, who elbowed his way out of Paul’s grasp and rushed forwards, pulling the son of Hades into his arms.

 

“Oh Nico,” he sighed. The son of Hades fought the embrace for a moment, struggling as tears started to drip down his face.

 

“It’s not right,” he mumbled, trying to move away, “it’s just not how it should be, just let me go – ”

 

“Shhh,” the son of Apollo soothed him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “If you want me to, I’ll let you go.”

 

He loosened his arms enough for Nico to free himself, eyes closed like in prayer. But as soon as he was able to, the son of Hades no longer seemed to have the will to move away, collapsing against the healer’s chest in shuddering sobs.

 

“Hazel?” Percy sounded like he’d been hit by a ton of rocks. (Or rather, had been thrown into a ton of rocks. In the form of a gravestone.) “But… Hazel?”

 

That pretty much summed up how Annabeth felt. If she had to draw a cupcake in human form, it would look like Hazel. She was like the definition of nice rolled up in a  cake tin of gentl e with a glaze of sweetness. Even when she was  slaying monsters, she looked like the sort of person you’d entrust your baby to without a second thought.  She had a sort of innocence that probably came from her upbringing… more than eighty years ago… in the Deep South…at the heart of the Bible Belt… in a catholic school… run by nuns…  ones who believed in witchcraft…  Sometimes Annabeth hated the more analytical side of her brain.

 

S he grimaced across the room at Kayla, who’d apparently reached the same conclusion. “Wow” the daughter of Apollo mouthed at her, miming a face palm.  Annabeth frowned. How had she missed this?

 

Something in her head suddenly clicked. She may have missed it. But someone clearly hadn’t.

 

“Nico,” she started tentatively. “Do you want to talk to Reyna?”

 

The son of Hades looked up at her over Will’s shoulder, his face reminding her of a puppy’s. Begging.

 

She smiled gently. “Come on, why don’t we set up in Percy’s room, he has a prism just for that.”

Will stood up at the same time as Nico did, holding him for a moment to make sure he was steady on his feet, before squeezing his hands and humming a quick soft tune. For a moment, there seemed to be a pulse of light through their connected hands before Will smiled brokenly and let him pass, sitting back down.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention I love Reyna? Or is it obvious enough?


	5. Does your mother know that you're out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see, who have I not dragged into this mess yet? Oh, right.

**Frank**

 

Frank nervously fingered the form he was holding in his hands as he waited for the door to Reyna’s office to open. She was in a meeting with someone, and he didn’t think she’d appreciate him barging in on it just to ask for a vacation.

 

He still felt a little bit bad about it. He’d barely been praetor for a month and a half, before which she’d been stuck doing everything on her own, and now he was asking for time off again. But he needed to find out what had happened to his grandmother. He hadn’t heard from her since he’d fled her besieged house with Hazel and Percy, and while he didn’t think she was dead – she was far too cunning for that – he still wanted some sort of certainty that his last remaining family (apart from Mars, but Frank didn’t really want to count the god as family) was all right. Hazel had agreed, reassuring him that Reyna would understand. The son of War, however, was still nervous. His girlfriend may have bonded with the other praetor over some weird affection for Hazel’s half-brother, but Reyna still intimidated him, despite their working together all this time. Or perhaps precisely because of that. The son of Mars was exhausted every day, and he wasn’t doing everything alone. He had no idea how she’d managed it before.

 

Thankfully, with the summer session now over, their workload had significantly decreased as most of the legion went back to school for a year, probably to write a bunch of essays about how what they did this summer was fight in a war. Frank would have been lying if he said he felt nostalgic.

 

Of course he and the other remaining soldiers on duty still had classes every day, courtesy of a couple of professors at New Rome’s university, but it wasn’t half as stringent as the Canadian public school he’d gone to. Hazel on the other hand had had some trouble adapting to modern day teaching. Frank still remembered how she’d at first been confused by the lack of abuse from the teachers. It made the son of Mars want to resuscitate Leo so he could invent a time-machine allowing him to go punch a bunch of nuns back in 1930s New Orleans. He’d been helping her, though. She was getting a lot better, even when she got confused about things like computers, and vaccines. (“Why do I need to get poked by needles again? Wait, what, that’s the sickness you’re injecting? Get away from me!” followed by crashing noises.)

 

 

His thoughts were interrupted when the door was opened, and he quickly wiped the fond smile that had crept onto his face away. Speak of Pluto. Both girls looked tense and angry. His girlfriend’s face was red, and Reyna’s features were rigid and controlled.

 

“Hey,” he said dumbly. “Everything okay?”

 

“Fine.” Hazel stalked past, and Frank found himself in a sudden dilemma, torn between wanting to go talk to his clearly upset girlfriend and doing what he’d actually come to the office for. At Reyna’s sour expression and raised eyebrow, he realized that this might not be the best time to ask for favors.

 

“I’ll just… ” he gestured in the direction the daughter of Pluto had taken, before awkwardly setting off after her.

 

 

 

When he finally caught up to his girlfriend, she was halfway out of the camp and still practically running for the city. She seemed to be a strange mixture of upset, unnerved and irritated. Frank hadn’t ever seen her in such a state, which immediately worried him, because he’d seen her face down against giant turtles with less emotion.

 

“Hazel, wait up!” He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop in the middle of the road between the military camp and New Rome. The signs of the past summer’s battles were still faintly visible around them, scars of burnt earth, but already, grass and plants had begun to reclaim the areas.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

The daughter of Pluto chewed on her lip, seemingly unwilling to meet his gaze.

 

“I didn’t realize how much things had changed,” she eventually told him.

 

“Aw, is this about you stabbing that physician again? That was my fault, I should have made sure you understood beforehand what vaccinations – ”

 

“Not that,” she interrupted him impatiently. “Apparently people think it’s okay nowadays to, to – ”

 

She looked ready to stomp her foot, whatever word it was clearly stuck in her throat.

 

“To what, Hazel? Um, wear pajamas in public? Color you hair? No, wait, people did that in the thirties, right?”

 

His girlfriend looked around them, frustrated. “No. To, you know. Two guys.”

 

Frank scanned his memory, trying to recall the things he’d read about the daughter of Pluto’s time.

 

“Um? I’m not sure. Like, ice skating?”

 

“No! Like –“ she finally leaned over, glancing around at the deserted road. “Like – kissing, and, and… stuff.”

 

Oh. Ohhhhh. Oh no. Not good. Not good at all.

 

“Didn’t the sex ed course Reyna had everyone take cover that?” Frank finally asked cautiously. (In fact, he was starting to have a pretty good idea of why they’d had the thing in the first place.)

 

Hazel swatted him on the arm, blushing and glancing around again.

 

“Stop using that word,” she hissed. “And, yes. That. But I didn’t realize it was so… normal. That people would just accept – “ She drew a deep breath, fanning her face with her hands. “I mean, it’s not – “

 

“Not what?” Frank asked automatically, his mind in a frenzy. This was definitely not the sort of thing he wanted to have to hash out with his girlfriend. Maybe he could get Reyna to do it? Well. Apparently she already had.

 

“What did Reyna tell you?” he interrupted the daughter of Pluto’s sputtering.

 

Hazel sighed, looking down. “She said if I don’t keep my “opinions” to myself, I’m going back on _probatio_.”

 

Frank raised an eyebrow. “Wow, Hazel. That’s… pretty extreme. Who were you talking to that got her so riled up?”

 

Hazel kicked at the dirt path, and a sapphire popped up. She kicked that away too. “That’s what I don’t understand. I was only talking to Nico. You know, because he understands better than most w hat it’s like.  M issing so much time.” She sighed. “I just don’t understand why he would tell Reyna.” Frank thought he could detect a faint trace of jealousy in her voice.

 

“So what did you tell Nico?”

 

“Not much, just about how crazy the whole thing was. Everyone just acting like it’s normal, or something. He seemed really weird about it, and I thought he just didn’t like talking about it. He practically hung up on me. And then he told Reyna? I don’t know.” In a quieter voice, she added sadly. “The praetor also said I’m not allowed to contact him anymore without her being there.”

 

Oh. _Oh._

 

It was like Frank had been looking through a fuzzy camera, and it had suddenly focused, revealing the image with crystal clarity.

 

“No way… ” he muttered to himself.

 

“Yeah, I don’t get it either. He’s my brother, I shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to talk to him. I don’t know who she thinks she is, but I’m going to Iris Message him now and tell – “

 

“No!” Frank quickly reached out and grabbed Hazel’s arm. “I mean, I think you should wait. You know? I have a couple of books, a couple of movies to show you, maybe they’d help you understand. We could have a movie day, I’ll get us popcorn, and hopefully it’ll help everything seem a bit more natural to you.”

 

Hazel stared at him. “But it’s not. You know that, right?”

 

Frank closed his eyes, trying to figure a way out of this situation he’d somehow landed in. Finally, he opened them and pulled his girlfriend to face him.

 

“Hazel,” he said as calmly as he could muster. “I love you, but in this, you are dead wrong.”

 

The daughter of Pluto frowned.

 

“You love me?”

 

Frank blinked. “That’s your take-away fro what I said?” And then immediately after: “Oh my gods, I’m sorry, it just slipped out!”

 

 

**Percy**

 

It was Sunday night, he’d just spent all evening scouring graveyards for elusive children of Hades and fighting dead dogs, and he still had a ton of preparatory school work to do. He was not in the mood for Iris Messages right now.

 

“Hey Frank,” he greeted dully, absently dog-earing his worksheet for math.

 

“Hey, Percy,” the son of Mars greeted him, nervously looking around. Which was odd, because as far as the son of Poseidon could tell, he was in Camp Jupiter’s barracks bathroom. “I just wanted to check on things at your end. Reyna gave Hazel a pretty rough talking to, I was wondering what caused it.”

 

“Oh yeah.” Percy grimaced. “I guess you probably should know about that.” He hesitated. “But I don’t really know how much I’m allowed to tell you.”

 

“It was about Nico, wasn’t it. He’s gay?”

 

Percy’s jaw practically dropped. “No way. It took me four years to figure that out, and you realize within three months of meeting him?”

 

“Well, it was pretty obvious, Reyna’s forbidden Hazel from contacting him alone until she changes her mind about homosexuality.”

 

“He had a crush on me!” Percy practically yelled. “That’s the sort of thing that should be obvious!”

 

Frank visibly swallowed. “Um, okay? I sort of get the feeling that’s one of the things you shouldn’t be allowed to tell me.”

 

Percy groaned, dropping his head onto his desk. He was going to have formula tattoos on his forehead after this.

 

“I’m a Seaweed Brain,” he announced. “Annabeth is right, of course, she’s always right.”

 

He summoned the energy to raise his head, but instead just sort of shifted it sideways so he could see the son of Mars.

 

“He told me a couple weeks ago, right after the battle. Said he was over me.” He snorted. “That I wasn’t his type.” He pouted and Frank seemed to relax a bit, smiling.

 

“Well, you can’t win all of them.”

 

Percy grinned and pushed his head up on his elbow.

 

“So how’s our little gold-digger doing?” he asked more seriously. “What Reyna probably also didn’t say was that Nico – “ the son of Poseidon had to grimace again, remembering. “Well, he tried to run away again after he talked to Hazel. All the self-confidence he built, everything, gone with just a couple of words from his sister. We found him half-dead in a graveyard in New Jersey.” He couldn’t help but let some of his anger seep into his voice.

 

“Look, I know it must be tough for Hazel, coming back from the dead and the thirties, and everything. But you know she can’t just keep going around bitching about gay people, right? That’s not fair to them, and especially not to Nico. Kid’s been through enough, I don’t blame Reyna for cutting them off, frankly.” He paused for a second. “No pun intended.”

 

Frank rolled his eyes. “Like I’ve never heard that one before. Look, Hazel… she just needs time. We’ve been working on it, promise. We actually spent the afternoon watching a bunch of movies  with gay characters in them. You now, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Mamma Mia, Cloud Atlas.” 

 

Percy frowned. “Those had gay characters in them?”

 

He saw Frank grimace. “I wanted to avoid the ones where it was really obvious? Work her in slowly? I think it's going okay, she was crying at the end of Cloud Atlas. I’m actually just here to stock up on water while she collects herself.” The son of Mars held up an empty bottle. “So how’s Nico doing?”

 

Percy shrugged. “He seemed okay after talking to Reyna. I mean, for Nico, obviously, okay could mean anything from fine to not currently bleeding to death, but he looked like he’d calmed down. My mom and Paul ended up inviting everyone for dinner, and she bullied him an actual serving. I think Will’s in love.”

 

Frank’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s the healer guy, right? Son of Apollo?”

 

Percy nodded. “They’re all out in the living room having a giant sleepover right now, mom didn’t want to risk them traveling after dark.”

 

The son of Mars cocked his head. “Then what are you doing here?”

 

Percy groaned, holding up his worksheet. “My stepdad’s a high school teacher, remember?”

 

 

 


	6. Here's to you, Ms Jackson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today on totally awesome and underrated characters

**Will**

 

They set out for camp the next morning, half of them piled into the camp van they’d borrowed, and the other half into Paul’s car. The previous evening, Austin and Kayla had discovered that Percy’s step dad was an English teacher, and had immediately started arguing with him about the comparative merits of different literary works, with occasional input from Percy’s mom, who as an author was treated with a mixture of awe and reverence by the children of Apollo (despite the fact that the actual goddess of literature wasn’t their father himself, but one of the muses). Usually, Will would gladly have joined in (the Catcher in the Rye had it coming, it really did), but he’d been more than a little distracted watching Nico. He just couldn’t understand it, he really couldn’t. Yesterday morning, everything had been great. Will had woken up smelling the son of Hades’ shampoo, and feeling like he he’d died and gone to Elysium, or at least Elysium if it wasn’t ruled over by his crush’s mildly terrifying dad.

 

And now, barely a day later, he was sitting in the back of a minivan that smelled of overripe strawberries and crushed dreams, running the events of the previous twenty-four hours through his mind. Nico practically running out of the Apollo cabin. Not showing up for breakfast or lunch. Will getting irritated that he was skipping meals, then worried when he wasn’t in his cabin, or the arena, or anywhere else around the camp. Worry turning to frantic fear as the afternoon wore on, and he mobilized the other remaining campers to help him look, until it became painfully clear that Nico was gone. Again.

 

That was the moment that had almost broken Will. The thought that he’d blown it. That he’d had his chance, and ruined it, because Nico had left, and Will would never ever get to see his scowl again, or hear his snark, or kiss him under the summer fireworks.

 

Will might have cried a little. That might have worried Chiron enough to agree to send out search parties to the Greater New York area, even though (as Malcolm Pace had unhelpfully pointed out before getting whacked on the head with Austin’s sax) Nico was a known flight risk.

 

But now he had him back, Will reassured himself. Percy and Grover had found him, a little banged up and down a few notches on the physical presence spectrum, but otherwise unharmed. And it hadn’t been anything Will had done. It was all his sister’s fault. Will pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, repeating the thought like a mantra. Not his fault. Not his fault. He wasn’t allowed to take responsibility for people dying, or almost dying. Lee had taught him that when he’d started working in the infirmary, and the extent of his healing powers had started to become clear.

 

Fat lot of good they’d done him to save Lee, though.

 

Not his fault. Not his fault.

 

“Hey.”

 

Will looked up at Connor, who was driving in the seat next to his. The son of Hermes had a pretty happy-go-lucky way of handling the wheel, like he trusted it not to lead him astray. Well. It might not for a son of the Traveler god.

 

“You’re doing it again.”

 

Will frowned. “What?”

 

The son of Hermes looked over for far longer than Will imagined was safe while driving.

 

“Blaming yourself. You do that thing.”

 

Here the demigod actually took both hands off the wheel and mimed Will’s position.

 

“Hey, eyes on the road!” yelped the son of Apollo, making a lunge for the steering. His gesture caused the minivan to careen to the left until Connor was able to right it, bringing it neatly back into their lane.

 

“Please don’t kill us,” called Kayla from the back. “I did not survive a war, the rise of giants and Austin’s Ramones phase just to die in a car crash.”

 

“Hey, what’s your problem with the Ramones?” Grover demanded from beside her. “I’ll have you know you can do some great nut showers with their songs.”

 

Kayla scoffed. “You mean song. Their stuff literally all sounds the same.”

 

Will and Connor exchanged an amused glance as the back seat descended into bickering.

 

“Worrywart,” mouthed Connor.

 

“Shut up.” Will shoved him lightly on the shoulder, but relaxed nonetheless. For a moment he remembered what it had been like dating the older demigod. They’d kept things casual, it was clear neither of them was really hung up on the other, but they’d had a good time. Connor was easy to be with. Comfortable.

 

“Seriously though, you always do this.” Connor was looking straight ahead through the windshield. “You try to carry all the blame in the world. Kind of a dark side to Apollo’s “All eyes on me” complex.”

 

“I love how you think calling me self-centered will make me feel better,” Will muttered.

 

Connor shrugged. “You know, it’s okay to lay the blame on the doorstep of the people who actually deserve it for a change.”

 

“Isn’t that how Percy ended up at Camp Half-Blood? Dumped on the Big House front porch?”

 

“Hey, I can hear you,” called Percy from the way back. Will watched him pout in the rear-view mirror, his girlfriend patting him on the knee.

 

“Drooling,” she called out. “Don’t forget, he was drooling too.”

 

“Smearing mud and minotaur dust everywhere,” Grover muttered under his breath.

 

Percy gave the satyr an injured look. “Hey, I dragged your passed-out furry rump all the way down the valley, remember? How could betray me like this?”

 

“You made me fight a giant dead dog with a Shakespearean accent yesterday, I’m pretty sure you still owe me.”

 

“You guys are so mean.” Percy gave a them all a fake pout.

 

“Nobody forced you to come in the van with us, Perce,” called Connor. “No candy or anything.”

 

“Candy, no. My mother’s stern glare? Definitely.”

 

Will looked around, confused. “What? I thought your mom was great!”

 

“Oh, she is,” Annabeth clarified. “I’m pretty sure she and Paul wanted to have a little heart-to-heart with Nico.”

 

 

**Nico**

 

Nico shifted uncomfortably. He could count on one hand the number of interactions he’d had with adults in the past year, and two of them at once right now was putting him on edge, especially since he’d spent the night on their couch. Call him old-fashioned, but imposing on people in their own homes made him uncomfortable, never mind what Mrs Jackson and her husband said, or how many brownies they pushed at him.

 

He twisted his hands in his lap and looked out of the car window. The day was overcast, a grey cover laying over the sky. He didn’t understand why he was the only one in the car with the Jacksons. He probably could have squished into the back of the camp van with the others. It wouldn’t have been very comfortable, and he’d probably have spent the entire time trying to avoid Will’s puppy eyes, but it would still have been a lot less awkward than having them drive out just for him.

 

“Nico, are you okay, dear?”

 

Once upon a time, on dark nights when he curled up alone on the edge of the Styx, certain he was alone, he’d allowed himself daydreams. He’d always felt ashamed the next morning, but for the space of a few hours, he’d feel a little happier in his imaginary world. He’d picture Percy back in his mother’s old apartment on his birthday, laughing with Tyson, a smudge of blue icing smeared across the bottom of his lip. Sally had pushed a plate with another piece of birthday cake on it into his hands – he could still practically taste it. Paul had been there as well, but Nico tried to erase him from the memory most of the time. The man’s gaze had been just a little too suspicious for his liking, his pointed questions about where the son of Hades was living and what school he was attending eventually prompting him to take his leave, despite Sally’s insistence he stay for dinner at least. In his memories, Nico liked to pretend Percy had insisted as well. And that he’d stayed. Sometimes for dinner, sometimes the night. Sometimes he even indulged in the fantasy of staying forever, enrolling in school with Percy and living with him, seeing him every day, living a normal life again…

 

Nico had been surprised at how disappointed he was when he found out that the Jacksons had left that old apartment for their new place.

 

He shook himself out of his thoughts. The apartment was gone, and the fantasy had only ever been that.

 

“Fine,” he replied, and immediately regretted his harsh tone. He glared out the window, where the sun was struggling weakly to break through.

 

“Nico –" Paul interrupted himself, like he was thinking about what to say. Finally, he started in a casual tone.

 

“You know, the school I work at, Goode? Percy goes there. It has a program that specializes in reintegrating runaways. Kids who weren’t in a good place in life. Like you.”

 

Nico raised an eyebrow. “You had ninety year old children of the Greek god of Death at your school?”

 

Paul laughed a little. The son of Hades could tell he was uncomfortable.

 

“I guess you’re not really like anyone else. But these kids all were in a similar situation in that they didn’t have anywhere they felt safe, or anyone they felt they could trust. So we tried to help them with that, give them support, teach them about self-acceptance… Look, what I’m trying to say is, if you ever feel like you need to leave camp again… come to us instead. Percy’s room has space, hell, when he leaves for college you’d have it to yourself.”

 

“Enrolling you wouldn’t be hard, I’m sure that military school’s records are still floating around somewhere,” Sally added. “We can tell everyone you’re Percy’s cousin. It’s not even a lie. And I frankly doubt you’d attract any more monsters than my son.”

 

Nico kept his face perfectly blank, mostly because he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Everything he’d fantasized about on those lonely evenings. Handed to him on a silver platter, almost.

 

“And not to scare you away, but the school’s counselor is quite good at helping kids sort through their emotions and sexuality and such. I understand you grew up in quite a conservative background (Nico had to fight not to snort at that), but you shouldn’t feel any sort of pressure to conform to that mindset.”

 

The son of Hades chewed on the inside of his cheek. He wanted desperately to ask how they had known, whether Percy had told them, or whether it was just that obvious. But that would involve talking even more about all _that_ , and frankly, Nico had had more than enough of this particular topic to last him a couple of months. Right now, all he wanted was to go back to his cabin and curl up under the covers and sleep like the dead. He briefly wondered when his cabin had become such a comfortable place for him.

 

“Thanks...” he finally replied. “I’ll...keep it in mind.”

 

 


	7. The dinner-crashing Dead

** W ill **

 

The camp van had arrived a little ahead of Percy’s parents, so while Kayla and Grover trudged up the hill and Connor took the van around to the old hangar they used for storage, Will waited with Percy and Annabeth, who kept shooting him worried glances.

 

“Maybe try to be cool, give him a little space,” the daughter of Athena suggested. “He’s probably still a bit fragile, he’s not used to confronting his emotions. I imagine in the last few weeks he had sort of a build up which finally overflowed. I’d say the most sensible course of action at this point would be to allow him to redevelop a tolerance for physical contact as well as some semblance of emotional maturity at a more gradual pace, we really took it too fast on the first try, which left him dangerously overstimulated and vulnerable to – “ With a bored expression, Percy reached over and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend before slapping his hand over her mouth, for which Will was grateful. He didn’t want to hear about how he’d taken things too fast, or how he should refrain from touching Nico if he didn’t want to scare him off again and get him hurt or killed.

 

Not his fault. Not his fault.

 

When the car finally pulled up, he tried to guard his expression as Nico slammed the door and stomped adorably around the back. Percy’s mom had gotten out as well, and she leaned in with a hand on his shoulder, talking to him earnestly in a low voice, before signaling to the older demigods.

 

“Take care Nico.” Percy grabbed the son of Hades around the neck and rubbed his head, prompting an eye roll from his girlfriend, who quickly pulled him off.

 

“And if you need anything, call us, okay?” she added sternly. She handed him a slip of paper. “My phone number and the address of my boarding school. Or, you know, just IM me.”

 

Nico nodded, slipping the paper into the pocket of his jacket. Finally the couple got in and the car pulled away, leaving just the two of them standing at the bottom of the hill.

 

They looked at each other for a second, before awkwardly glancing away. Will fiddled with a thread hanging from the bottom of his sweatshirt.

 

“So,” he finally started. “We should probably get to lunch?”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nico jerk, as if surprised, then nod. Will didn’t let himself dwell on it too long, though. He just turned and started up the hill, slow enough to allow the son of Hades to fall in step with him. He didn’t.

 

 

 

Lunch was pretty subdued. Everyone was either exhausted from the search, or whispering and throwing around glances. Will tried to concentrate on his sandwich, but the low roar of gossip was making it difficult. He tried to keep his eyes to himself, but they seemed to keep straying over to the Hades table, where Nico was sitting alone, picking apart a piece of bread.  Will felt different parts of himself in conflict, some of them wanting to go over and make the son of Hades eat properly, others wanting to stay put and spare himself more pain, and at least two strangely vocal part pushing him to go over and either shake the boy or kiss him till they ran out of breath. He did his best to banish those two parts to the far confines of his brain. Maybe he should check in with the Aphrodite cabin to see if their mother was pissed at him for some reason.

 

F inally, just as he was turning his head again, Nico looked up and they crossed gazes for a second. Just a second. Then there was a crash as Harley from Hephaestus dropped his plate. The son of Hades flinched, and a second later, a scream echoed from one of the nymphs.

 

Annabeth would have been proud of their reaction. All across the dining pavilion, knives and forks bristled, (and in the case of one Billie Ng, a spoon, which she looked ready  to use  to gouge someone’s eye out with) as they were hefted into position, the demigods taking shelter behind tables, benches and the salad bar. Casting around with his cutlery firmly gripped in his hands, Will finally spotted the threat. It was… a zombie?

 

About half the campers turned from the sight of the ragged bunch of bones dragging itself across the green with what looked like a… dead fish poking out of  the top of its rib cage, glancing hesitantly at the son of Hades instead.

 

“ Um. Sorry about that.” Nico wrung his hands, looking back and forth between the zombie and the bristling forest of cutlery. He kept throwing pointed glares at the crawling headless skeleton, like it was going to notice and stop embarrassing him. “Go away,” he finally hissed, doing a little gesture with his hands, like he was trying to keep the others from seeing. “No, I didn’t call you. Get. out.”

 

Meanwhile the remaining campers, seeming to realize that there was no immediate danger requiring the excessive use of silverware, had started coming out from behind their shelters, bemused. Without for a moment taking h is eyes off the zombie, Connor reached over and started shoveling pudding cups into the backpack Julia was holding out to him.  Chiron looked around sternly at them , and  they froze mid  dessert  theft.

 

Like the son of Hermes, the zombie finally seemed to be getting the hint. It had stopped crawling forwards and rattling its bones as much, and now even appeared to be trying to make an inconspicuous retreat. Pushing itself back towards the grass, it bumped into the cart holding the dirty dishes, causing an avalanche of bowls to come clattering down on top of it. Nico dropped his face into his hands. Will thought he might have heard him groan.

 

After several tense minutes, the zombie, now wearing a dirty cereal bowl upside down where its head used to be, had reached the lawn and dug its way back into the dirt, leaving behind a bewildered group of demigods and a bunch of shards.

 

“… I’m really sorry, I’ll clean up.” Nico gestured almost helplessly towards the wreckage, and Will felt a stab of pity in his chest. Before he could react and rush forwards to help, however, he felt someone poke him in the back.

 

“Ow, Austin, what?”

 

His brother gestured surreptitiously at Chiron.

 

“What?”

 

Austin nodded his head again towards the centaur and then towards Nico, finally looking down pointedly at the table they were kneeling behind.

 

“Austin?”

 

His brother rolled his eyes excessively, before getting to his feet, and saying in an exaggeratedly telegraphed tone.

 

“Say. Will. Didn’t you want to tell Chiron. About Nico’s medical condition. Which requires him to eat at the Apollo table. In order to prevent. Accidental zombie summonings?”

 

Everyone’s heads swiveled around and Will finally caught on.

 

“Oh, right, yes. That.” He stumbled around the table, fumbling in his healer’s pouch to pull out a pad of paper and a pen.

 

“Here. As Nico di Angelo’s doctor and primary healthcare provider,” he scribbled out, tripping over Kayla’s foot as he made his way to the head table, “I am prescribing meal times… at the Apollo table for supervision.” He hastily ripped the paper off the pad and slapped it in front of Chiron.

 

The centaur raised an eyebrow and lifted it up, carefully reading through it. Will glanced across the pavilion at Nico’s confused face, holding his breath. He wasn’t sure why this suddenly felt so important.

 

“Well, Mr Solace,” Chiron finally started, lowering the paper slowly, and the healer immediately knew he was about to be turned down.

 

“The unintentional zombie summonings were documented multiple times during the summer by Gleeson Hedge and Praetor Reyna Ramirez-Arellano,” he suddenly blurted out, hoping with all his might he’d be able to get hold of Reyna and Jason before Chiron made any calls. “The causes are currently unknown, and we cannot speculate without further study. Please Chiron, I promise it’s just a few weeks.” He looked his long-time mentor in the eyes and did his best puppy impression. Granted, he may have outgrown its effectiveness with his last growth spurt, but it couldn’t hurt to try.

 

Chiron sighed, looking over at the son of Hades. Kayla and Malcolm had started helping him gather up the ceramic shards. Clearly the old centaur knew Will was pulling all of this out of the place his father didn’t shine.

 

“This isn’t signed.”

 

“Oh.” Will hastily reached out and scrawled his name across the bottom of the paper, releasing a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. Once he’d finished, his teacher reached out and gently took hold of his wrist.

 

“Just for a few days,” he warned gently. Will nodded and moved swiftly over to Nico.

 

“Here,” he said breathlessly, holding out the paper. The son of Hades looked at him like he’d just grown another head.

 

“Permission to eat at the Apollo table,” he explained. “So we can figure out what is causing these repeated – he  nodded meaningfully at the other demigod – zombie summonings.”

 

“Oh. Right. The zombies. Who… always… come? During meal times?” He looked back enquiringly and Will nodded quickly. “I’ll just…” he gestured with his hands full of plate shards and Will leaned forwards to take some of them.

 

“We should… get these to the kitchens.”

 

“Yeah. Okay.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Thank you. Will. For, you know.”

 

“Sure, Zombie Lord.”

 

“Please don’t call me that.”

 

“Says the guy who just accidentally summoned a zombie.”

 

“Zombies, according to you.”

 

“Right.”

 

 

 

 

 

** Nico **

 

Nico jerked into a sitting position, gasping for breath. His fingers curling in the sheets, he looked around his darkening room. Nothing. Everything was as he'd left it. Pushing back his hair, he tried to regulate his breathing.

  


“Nightmare?”

  


Nico's head jerked back up. Will was crouching next to his bead, a worried expression on his face.

  


“What the Hades are you doing in here, Solace!” Nico whisper-yelled.

  


“I'm sorry,” whined the son of Apollo, climbing onto the bed. “I just wanted to see you.”

  


“What if the harpies had seen _you_?” Nico argued, though he could feel his cheeks start to glow. Luckily, Will was still too busy struggling to remove his shoes without opening the laces to see.

  


“Don't worry, no one saw me. I'm pretty good at the whole stealth thing.”

  


The son of Hades couldn't help but snort at that. “Um. Half-Blood Hill?”

  


Will finally kicked off his shoes and crawled up the bed to where Nico was sitting.

  


“Hey, I'll have you know nobody saw us then either,” he pouted, reaching out a finger to bop the tip of the other boy's nose. Nico struggled to school his features as he batted it away. After the whole zombie incident (Nico had already banished the guy’s skull from his father’s shrine, even though he realized the zombie had only meant well) things had gotten remarkably lighter between him and the healer, though they both pointedly skirted around the topic of Nico’s flight. Will had even touched him a couple of times, but always with a newfound uncertainty that Nico wasn’t sure how he felt about. However, darkness seemed to make the other boy less restrained. 

  


“What are you doing here, Solace?”

  


Will leaned in, and Nico felt his warm breath brush across his face.

  


“I wanted to talk to you. But first, are you okay?”

  


Nico swallowed hard, rubbing his arms. “I… yeah, I'm fine, just a nightmare.”

  


Will tutted before twisting to sit next to him, throwing an arm around his shoulders and pulling him in.

  


“You wanna talk about it?”

  


Nico shook his head. “Just the usual, nothing different. What was it _you_ wanted to talk about?”

 

Will looked down at his knees. Silence settled awkwardly between them, and Nico knew without answer what the topic was.

 

“Why didn’t you come to me?”

 

The son of Hades winced at the betrayal in the healer’s voice. Whatever happened, he never wanted Will to sound so hurt. Never that.

 

“ It wasn’t about you, Will.”

 

The son of Apollo smiled wr y ly. “Yeah, people keep telling me that.”

 

Nico shook his head. “Fine. Maybe it was a little about you.”

 

Will’s expression turned serious.

 

“You know you can tell me anything. Even wanting me to leave you alone. I won’t mind.” His tone was light, forcedly so. Nico felt like shriveling up.

 

“I don’t. I just…” he flailed, flexing his fingers. With a hum, his companion took his hand, gently folding and unfolding each joint. “It’s a lot to take in. And for a while, I could just let go, and go along with it, but then Hazel gave me that call and… It was like a reality check, you know? Face it, Will. I’m stuck in this state of mind that’s going to end up hurting you.” His voice turned quiet. “And I don’t want that.”

 

The son of Hades held his breath, waiting to see Will’s reaction. The other boy was still massaging his hand, rubbing the base of his palm with a contemplative expression on his face. Part of him was bracing itself for the demigod to agree. Will would get up and put his shoes back on, and they’d agree to keep their distance for a while. Then he’d leave and Nico would be back to square zero, and with no idea what to do to get off it. But then, another part of him, deep down, already knew that that wasn’t going to happen. Will had shown his hand long ago. Perhaps that was why Nico felt safe enough to even risk this.

 

“You really think you could hurt me any more than you did by running away?”

 

The healer’s voice was soft, but Nico still winced. Fine, he deserved that one.

 

“ I’m sorry.”

 

Will hummed again, stopping his massage and lacing his fingers together with Nico’s instead.

 

“Promise you won’t do it again.”

 

Nico nodded. “I promise.”

 

“No. On the Styx.”

 

Nico inhaled sharply. But when he raised his eyes, Will’s blue gaze was absolutely uncompromising.

 

“Fine. I swear on the Styx that I won't run away from you again.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't make up the guy who died trying to swallow a live fish, by the way. That was an actual Darwin Award winner.


	8. A tanto duol quest'anima...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, take this disgusting piece of fluff.

**Nico**

 

 

“Aw, come on Will, live a little.”

 

Nico watched in mingled disgust and fascination as Austin pulled off berating his brother while simultaneously chewing on a big bite of French toast.

 

“Yes, live. Not die, which is why I’m putting my foot down. No.”

 

Will pulled a face at his brother’s display of disappointment, which included not a little bit of maple syrup. Nico was about to offer him a napkin when the healer nudged him with his elbow and he remembered his own plate.

 

“But it’s gonna be Halloween!”

 

Will pulled another face, though that might have been the piece of grapefruit he’d just taken a bite of. Nico had no idea how he could stand the stuff. After the first time Will had dumped some on his plate, claiming it was healthy, Nico had quickly learned to dish it off on his father. Hey, the Lord of the Dead needed his vitamins too, right?

 

“In three weeks.”

 

“But it’s _Halloween_.”

 

“Austin, please shut your mouth when you’re chewing.”

 

Kayla, Nico had quickly learned, was not much of a morning person. In the two weeks since he’d started eating at the Apollo table, he hadn’t gone a single breakfast without hearing her cuss out the relative southern location of the state of New York, and its ensuing early sunrises.

 

Will, on the other hand, always looked like he’d been up for hours. And considering he often dropped by the infirmary before picking up Nico at his cabin for breakfast – or rather stealing his covers to drag him out of bed – he might well have been. Nico sneaked a glance at the boy in his usual seat to the left, and immediately looked away when he was greeted with a small smile.

 

“Wow. Does anyone want their eggs sunny-side up? ‘Cause you can just cook them on Nico’s face.”

 

He glared at Austin, who had grown annoyingly impervious to his death glares in the past few weeks. Things with Will had gone more or less back to normal after Nico’s… trip, but it was still awkward at times. The son of Apollo would brush Nico’s hair from his face, or say something, or just _look_ at him, and Nico would be reduced to a blushing, conflicted mess, simultaneously wanting to look back and look away, sure he didn’t deserve this second chance, yet knowing he couldn’t refuse it.  Sometimes it almost felt like with Percy – contradictory emotions battling restlessly inside him until he thought for sure he’d be ripped apart.

 

“Maybe I should shadow travel you away. So I wouldn’t have to see the content of your mouth anymore,” he shot back.

 

Austin shrugged. “Sure. As long as you do it on Halloween and send me to a mall with some good decorations on sale.” The son of Apollo looked expectantly at his brother and cabin counselor.

 

“ _No,_ Austin.”

 

“But W _ill.”_

 

“Chiron alert,” Kayla suddenly muttered, and Nico quickly thrust out his hands, summoning Chad the headless zombie who now rested not so peacefully next to the dining pavilion. Valentina screamed and someone smashed a plate. The centaur was forced to turn towards the Aphrodite table rather than Apollo’s. Austin and Will discreetly high-fived.

 

 

 

L ater, while they were folding bandages together at the infirmary, Nico finally worked up the courage to ask Will something he’d been thinking about for a while now. He’d mostly pushed it to the back of his mind, but the conversation with Austin that morning had brought it back up. 

 

“Hey, Will?”

 

The son of Apollo hummed, and Nico hesitated. The last thing he wanted to do was upset the healer again, and he was pretty sure his request would do it. But he had to try.

 

“You now, there’s not a lot of campers around, and if we get attacked… do you think I should practice shadow traveling again?”

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Will’s head whip around.

 

“Why should you do that? Don’t you remember what state you were in by the end of the war? I mean, there’s not going to be another war anyway, we don’t need to worry about your powers. Do we? Did your dad say something?”

 

“No!” Nico quickly reassured him. “I… just thought I’d ask. You know, hypothetically. Actually, forget about it,” he trailed off, looking back down at the bandages he was holding. He heard Will sigh and a tan hand took the roll of cloth gently from his.

 

“Nico.”

 

The son of Hades looked up, and Will swallowed, as if repressing a grimace. “Let me think about it.”

 

 

 

It was two days before the son of Apollo caught up with him as he returned to his cabin after dinner.

 

“Hey,” Will huffed, out of breath from running to catch up. “So, I’m probably going to regret this the very first time we do it, but… if you let me give you a check-up after every time, and you promise only to do it when I’m around… I’d be okay with you practicing your shadow travel.

 

“Really?” Nico looked suspiciously at the healer, who nodded.

 

“You sound surprised.”

 

“It’s Halloween in three weeks. Did Austin talk you into this?”

 

“… No.”

 

“ _Will_.”

 

“I _really_ don’t like it when he films his Youtube videos in our cabin.”

 

Nico frowned. “What’s Youtube?”

 

 

 

**Will**

 

He actually froze for a second, staring at this wonderful, innocent little cupcake of a human being.

 

“Oh my gods, you are so adorable.”

 

Nico glared defensively. “So I don’t know. What’s the big deal?”

 

On impulse, Will reached down and cupped the other boy’s face, squeezing his cheeks. “Never change, love.”

 

Nico shook him off, but Will could see the tint of red in his neck. He grinned. “Come on, I can show you.”

 

 

 

“So Austin puts videos of himself on here playing instruments. And who watches it?”

 

They were sprawled across Nico’s massive new bed, Will’s phone held between them. The healer shrugged. “Just anybody who wants to.”

 

Nico appeared fascinated by the website, clicking through links more and more quickly, finally settling on a video of some opera, Bellini if Will wasn’t mistaken. He was admittedly slightly distracted checking out his boyfriend.

 

Nico looked good like this. Sprawled across the black silk sheets in just jeans and a worn T-shirt that was twisted around his frame, riding up a bit to reveal a stripe of skin just along the hem. His hair was tousled, slowly growing back, a strand hanging in his face as he hunched over the little screen. Will instinctively reached over to push at his lower back, smoothing out the curve. “Neck straight, you’ll… ” He broke off when the son of Hades jerked abruptly at his touch, looking up. Will was about to apologize and draw back, but it was like Nico’s face was holding him captive. Music continued to filter from the phone on the bed between them, forgotten, but as the smooth voice of a tenor wound out and around them, they found themselves leaning forward, just a breath away, and then… the breath was gone, and Nico’s lips were soft against his, slightly chapped, and Will knew he could die happy. As the song played on, he gently started moving his lips, coaxing Nico to do the same, until they were moving against one another, and Will used the arm on the other boy’s back to pull him closer by the waist, as the singer’s voice rose in timber, he sucked Nico’s lip into his mouth, and the soft gasp was more beautiful than any music –

 

There was a loud knock at the door, and the two boys jumped apart, Nico scrambling for the phone to silence the music, blushing madly.

 

“Yeah?” Will called out to whoever had knocked. Nico waved a panicked hand at him.

 

“What are you doing?” he hissed, finally managing to turn off the music.

 

“Whoever it is probably came to get me for curfew, they must have seen me walk over here,” Will shrugged. “Come on in, we’re decent,” he called.

“Will!” the son of Hades hissed, looking scandalized, but before he could say more, Chiron had already opened the door.

 

“Much as I appreciate Bellini, it is, I believe, time to cut the opera short and go get some rest,” the old centaur informed them with a half-resigned smile that left no doubt as to whether he knew what they had been up to. Nico was turning an ever-steadier shade of prune.

 

“Sure thing, Chiron,” Will smiled easily. He couldn’t bring himself to regret a kiss like that. He turned to his boyfriend, barely trying to push down his grin.

 

“I’ll see you in the morning for your check-up, and then we can do some practice shadow travel, if you want?”

 

Nico nodded, eyes still fixed on the cabinet ahead, clearly trying to avoid Chiron’s patient gaze. Making a quick decision, Will leaned forwards to press a kiss to the demigod's temple, reaching down at the same time to pluck his phone out of his grasp. The son of Hades flinched and glared at him, redder than his father’s cows, but Will mostly noticed the way his fingers had curled around the phone before reluctantly letting it go. He hesitated.

 

“You want to hold on to it for tonight?” he finally asked.

 

Nico shook his head. “It’s fine. Just go, Solace, before you get eaten by the harpies.”

 

Loath as he was to not have the thing on him, Will had gotten pretty good at discerning when the other boy was lying, and he could tell how much the music seemed to mean to him. Moving back onto the bed, he gently brushed his lips across the shell of an ear, whispering a quiet “good night”, before quickly hurrying out as Nico yelled out “Will!” and shutting the door before his boyfriend could realize he’d left the phone on his pillow.

 

 

**Nico**

 

“Well, your blood pressure’s higher, so that’s good.” The healer unwrapped the pad from his arm and Nico shook it out, attempting to get some feeling back into his fingers. He was once again – surprise, surprise – sitting on the exam table in the infirmary office as Will poked and prodded at him. He didn’t really need another check-up, not this soon after the one he’d gotten in the wake of  his… trip… to New York, and that one had been hellish. Nico never wanted to make Will avoid eye contact with him like that ever again. So he’d let himself get dragged back for some quick tests before he was finally allowed to practice shadow traveling again. Practice. He snorted. He remembered when he’d started using his powers the first time around. Some he’d discovered on his own, usually during monster attacks. Others Minos had shown him, but there hadn’t really been any actual practice involved. Minos was a very “do” sort of guy (or ghost, whatever). “Try”, not so much.

 

“So what’s next, fingernail pulling?”

 

Will rolled his eyes good- naturedly, padding back over to the table to stand between his legs. Nico shifted nervously, though he was glad the son of Apollo was back to feeling so comfortable around him. When a finger touched him under the chin to raise his head, he felt his breath hitch. Will’s eyes were so very blue, his expression serious somehow, contemplative. Searching. Nico could do nothing but stare back.

 

“One last thing… “ Will finally murmured, leaning in, and Nico closed his eyes. He was ready.

 

But not for something hard and sticky to press against his lips. The son of Hades jerked back, eyes snapping open to see the lollipop the healer was holding out, grinning, one of the grape ones they kept around for the kids.

 

“Solace!” he yelled, reaching over to try to hit him. He could tell he was blushing madly, especially since the healer burst out laughing, skipping back a few steps to lean against his desk, the lollipop sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you can find which opera Nico was listening to.


	9. Slightly less Dark Shadows

**Will**

 

“All right, nice and easy Death Boy. Take it slow. That’s right. Just to the other side of the clearing. Concentrate. Hey, why’d you stop? Are you okay, do you feel weak? Do you need to lay – ”

 

“Will,” Nico interrupted irritatedly. “I don’t need a running commentary.”

 

“Oh. Sorry.”

 

The son of Hades huffed and turned his attention back to the shadows cast by the tree he was standing under. It was a nice autumn day, sunny with a stiff wind that made the trees rustle and occasionally moved the shadows around. Absently, Will wondered if that made it harder to get into one of them, although the son of Hades didn’t seem too bothered. Looking for something to distract himself from the worry in the pit of his stomach, the healer walked over to his supplies piled next to the designated landing pad on the other side of the clearing from his boyfriend. He had nectar and ambrosia, some ordinary snacks and energy drinks, a blanket, a portable sun lamp in case of sudden eclipses. He’d even Iris Messaged Coach Hedge, not just to beg him to tell Chiron that Nico did indeed have a history of summoning zombies at meals if the centaur ever came knocking, but also to get his recipe for the magical mud that the son of Hades had told him about. Woodrow the satyr was currently stirring a huge pot of it under an adjacent tree, accompanied by a mildly disgusted looking Kayla.

 

“All set?” he asked, nervously threading his fingers together. The satyr nodded, biting his lip anxiously. “Yeah, near as I can tell. I’m not as good as Coach with nature magic though.”

 

Kayla raised an eyebrow. “Wow. Never would have thought Coach Hedge of all people would know healing.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Woodrow nodded. “He’s real good at it, not that you’ll get him to admit it. Really great.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Big softie actually, but don’t let the word get out.”

 

Will’s eyes met his sister’s for a second and, and they both had to fight down a laugh.

 

“Okay, so now we just wait for Nico to shadow travel – Nico?”

 

 

 

 

“’m fine, just miscalculated,” his boyfriend explained groggily when he came to about half an hour later. “I feel fine.”

 

“That’s because you’re covered in Hedge’s special mud, love,” Will told him, trying to hide his relief.

 

“Right,” Nico mumbled tiredly. “So that’s why it itches.” His eyes seemed to be falling shut again, so the healer quickly reached over to grab him by the back of the neck and pull him into a more or less upright position. “Nope, no passing out again. Not until you have some ambrosia and drink at least a bottle of Gatorade.”

 

His boyfriend grumbled a bit, but nevertheless allowed Will to push some godly food into his mouth. He even blushed slightly when the son of Apollo’s fingers brushed his lips, the final detail the healer needed to soothe his frazzled nerves. They’d found Nico just a few hundred meters up the path, right by Zeus’s fist, his palms flickering in and out of translucence. Will decided he wasn’t going to go through explaining his slightly panicky behavior to the son of Hades, or how he’d fallen to his knees at his side and cradled his face in his hands, begging for a sign of life, until his sister had whacked him on the back of the head and pointed out Nico’s very obvious breathing. And if Kayla kept her trap shut, the son of Hades would never find out how they’d gone about undressing him so Woodrow could swathe him in mud, with Will trying his damnedest to keep his eyes to himself while his sister teased him mercilessly about his red face and neck. Nope, no need for Nico to know about that.

 

Once he’d sucked the bottle of Gatorade dry, Nico seemed to regain his energy as he pushed it aside and tried to get up, but Will wasn’t having it.

 

“Nope. Lay back down, Death Boy.” He shoved his boyfriend back to the ground.

 

“I’m getting covered in ants.”

 

“Well you should have thought about that before you accidentally ended up back here.”

 

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

 

“And neither does getting up. Stay down until Kayla gets back here with the stretcher.”

 

“Stretcher? I don’t need a stretcher!”

 

“What you need isn’t up to you, now stay down!”

 

“Um, guys?”

 

The two demigods looked up at Woodrow, who was sitting awkwardly a few steps away, clutching his empty mud container. Nico’s head swiveled back to Will.

 

“Was he there the whole time?”

 

 

Nico was still pouting when they stretchered him across camp and right into the infirmary bathroom, which Will found adorable and Kayla hilarious, so there was at least some upside to the whole debacle, enough so that when he talked it over later with Chiron while Nico washed the mud off in the bath, the healer eventually let himself be persuaded (ordered) to continue with the experiments.

 

 

**Nico**

 

“Still off the mark?”

 

“No, you actually made it to the right spot this time.”

 

“Great!”

 

“Of course, that was six hours ago and you’ve been passed out since.”

 

“Really? Damn it.”

 

Nico pushed back the covers over his legs and looked around. He was in the infirmary again, a depressingly common occurrence these past few weeks. He just couldn’t explain it, and it was driving him crazy. He used to be so much better at this. Now it was like the shadows were reluctant to take him back. They were more restless, and controlling them took so much energy he could barely make it back to the mortal world before burning out.

 

“We’re wasting our time, aren’t we,” he commented dejectedly.

 

Will cocked his head, considering. “I wouldn’t say that, exactly, ” he replied, making a few marks on his clipboard and tossing over a bottle of Gatorade.

 

Nico made a face, pulling the cap open with his teeth and chugging down the blue drink. “Face it, Solace. I just can’t seem to shadow travel like I used to. I must’ve broken during the war.”

 

“Hey, hey, hey, we talked about this,” the son of Apollo admonished him, dropping the clipboard on the bed and scooting over to throw an arm over Nico’s shoulders. “You’re not broken. Never that. Sure, maybe you might have overworked yourself a bit towards the end there. I doubt anyone could have come out of what you went through with their powers intact. But you’ll get them back. You just need to give yourself time to recuperate.”

 

His arm seemed to tighten and he smiled when the son of Hades looked over dejectedly at him. “And even if they don’t come back the way they used to be. That in no way makes you broken.” The healer’s other arm snaked over to cup his chin and lean in, but Nico shook his head, turning away.

 

“I don’t know, Will,” he found himself confessing, playing around with the bottle cap. “I just feel useless. What’s the point of my being here if I can’t even shadow travel properly, or actually control the zombies I summon?”

 

He made a movement to disengage the healer’s arm from his shoulders, but the son of Apollo wasn’t having it.

 

“Hey! Listen to me.” Will’s arm slid down from Nico’s shoulders to his waist and dragged him back so that the son of Hades was practically sitting in his lap. “You being here has nothing to do with your powers, or your abilities, or anything like that. You’re here because this is your home, and you belong here. And if anyone tells you otherwise, I’m going to prescribe them that medical treatment from the Middle Ages where you get covered in leeches next time they show up at the infirmary. Clear?”

 

Nico ducked his head, sighing. “Whatever. I guess, I’m just not used to being useless. I always used to have a purpose, you know? When I was looking for a way to defeat Kronos, or finding the Doors of Death, I felt like I was helping. Like I was worth something.” He glanced over at Will to find the healer clenching his jaw. Great. He’d done it again. Whatever it was he’d said that had pissed his friend off. But the healer seemed to gather himself, shaking it off.

 

“Thin of it this way, love. You’re worth a whole lot to me when you’re here. I’d be a mess if you weren’t.”

 

Nico nodded, trying to work around the sudden knot in his throat.

 

“Okay.”

 

The healer smiled.

 

“Now can I kiss you?”

 

Nico nodded again, the knot suddenly popping loose. His breath came out in a soft whoosh when the son of Apollo leaned in, pressing their noses together before gently pecking at his lips, once, twice, three times, until Nico was chasing him, and they stopped separating, their breaths mingling. Will was gently moving his lips, coaxing, like that time back in his cabin when they’d been listening to music. Nico felt a shiver run down his spine at the memory, and he suddenly knew exactly what the other boy was doing, first gently nibbling on his lower lip, sucking it into his mouth, and Nico had to keep himself from making any embarrassing noises. But he couldn’t quite help himself when the healer released his lip from between his and he felt the other boy’s tongue dart out, delicately running across the seam of the son of Hades’ lips. The quiet moan seemed to snap something in Will, because he suddenly sat up and put his hands on Nico’s shoulders, pushing him back into the pillow as they continued to kiss. He hadn’t been paying attention, or rather his attention was shot from all the different sensations, but he must have opened his mouth at one point, because suddenly, Will’s tongue was inside of his, brushing over his teeth and rubbing against his own tongue, and Nico could taste him. He could feel the softness of his mouth and his hands as they gently slid down from his shoulders along his arms, the heat radiating from his body. It was just as raw and passionate as always, but somehow, Nico felt like for once, it was easier to handle. He still mostly let Will guide him, but after gathering any available courage he had left, he also let his arms inch around the son of Apollo’s neck, not necessarily to pull him closer, but just to hold him there, anchoring them both. From the way Will enthusiastically hugged him back, pressing himself ever closer, Nico could tell he approved.

 

It was finally the sudden clatter of the bottle of Gatorade getting knocked off the bed and onto the tiled floor of the infirmary that brought them back up for air. Will pulled his lips back from Nico’s, leaving them suddenly cold, and the son of Hades almost pouted, but then he opened his eyes and his breath caught. Will looked so happy, smiling down at him, like an angel from heaven.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this a knock on Nico being an almost literal demideus ex machina in the Percy Jackson and Gods of Olympus series, and then having almost all his powers pulled by Trials of Apollo? Why yes, why do you ask?


	10. Sex, baby, let's talk about you and...not me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, one thousand exclamation marks for extremely explicit medical language.
> 
> Oh, and also discussion of masturbation, asexuality, male genital mutilation/circumcision, all that fun stuff that is so going to get me into trouble.
> 
> I apologize in advance, I really do.

**Malcolm**

 

“So, to resume, the penetrator vigorously thrusts into the anus of the penetrated, angling his penis in order to, ideally, come into contact with a bundle of nerves known as the prostate, which will in turn provide sexual satisfaction to the penetrated.”

 

Malcolm frowned at his notes. “I should make an addendum, the penetrator does not necessarily have to be the one moving, It could just as well be the penetrated moving himself up and down on the penetrator’s phallus.”

 

“Oh come on, nerd, stop interrupting, we get it, it’s not detailed enough,” Valentina pouted, touching up the nail polish on her left middle finger. “No need to stop right at the best part.” She blew on her nails disinterestedly.

 

Malcolm glanced up at their lone student. Nico was white-knuckling the armrests of his chair, an expression somewhere between fatal embarrassment and blind panic etched across his face. The son of Athena rolled his eyes, muttering “prude” under his breath as he scribbled in the margins of the already well-annotated booklet some Apollo camper had put together at some point as guidelines for Camp Half-Blood’s sex ed class. Usually, the head of the Apollo cabin would have been the one giving it, but seeing as Will was undoubtedly a bit too big a supporter of the practical example in the case of this particular student, Chiron had appointed Malcolm and Valentina to the task. The son of Athena didn’t really mind – he’d completed all his work for the online college courses he was taking, and now just was sitting around waiting for the corrections to come back – but he generally preferred teaching students who would get a little more involved with the subject matter. The son of Hades on the other hand looked like he was trying to actively forget anything Malcolm told him as soon as he heard it.

 

Prude.

 

Although it would be interesting to study the views of Nico and his sister in order to gain a better perspective on the change of mores in the last couple of decades. The son of Athena made a mental note to ask Chiron for permission to conduct a study.

 

In the meantime, he was going to have to find a way to engage his student in their subject. Briefly thinking, he closed the booklet and pushed it across the table.

 

“Look, clearly this isn’t working for you.”

 

“Oh thank the gods, can I go now?”

 

“Ah, not so fast,” Malcolm interrupted him as Nico stood up to rush to the door. “I’m just going to try a slightly different teaching method, all right?”

 

The son of Hades sat back down, looking disappointed and terrified. Valentina on the other hand perked up interestedly.

 

“All right, now we’re talking.” Jumping up, she slid herself across the table until she was sitting between them.

 

“Okay now, di Angelo, close your eyes.”

 

The son of Hades cast a nervous glance at Malcolm, who nodded, before complying.

 

“Now, picture this,” the daughter of Aphrodite said, dropping her voice to a soothing tone. “You’re in the Hades cabin. It’s evening. The sun is setting through the windows. Can you see it?”

 

Nico nodded, his eyes still closed. Malcolm observed that his breathing seemed to have calmed a little. Interesting.

 

“You’re there with Will. You’re sitting on the bed, both reading. His shoulder is pressed against yours,” the daughter of Aphrodite purred.

 

Nico’s body relaxed further.

 

“Now you stop reading and close your book. So does Will. You both lean over at the same time and kiss.”

 

Malcolm saw a soft blush color the son of Hades’s cheeks. His breathing seemed to pick up.

 

“You keep kissing, and wrap your arms around each other to pull closer. Your arms are around his waist and his hands are in your hair.”

 

Valentina’s voice had acquired an almost hypnotic quality, and if he hadn’t known for sure otherwise, Malcolm might have suspected she was charmspeaking them both.

 

“You’re still kissing, and now you gently push your tongue into his mouth. He moans and you push him over, climbing into his lap. You’ve gotten an erection, and it’s pressing into his – “

 

Nico abruptly slammed his hands onto the table.

 

“Oh, what now!” Valentina booed. “It was just getting good again!”

 

Nico’s face was the color of a prune, and he was breathing heavily.

 

“What are you – you can’t just...No!” the son of Hades stuttered out.

 

“Oh come on,” moaned Valentina. “What's the issue, surely you’ve already jerked off to the idea, right?”

 

You could have heard the sound of a pin drop, Malcolm reflected.

 

“You haven’t?” Valentina asked disbelievingly. “Why not??”

 

Nico sat frozen in what Malcolm thought might be shame.

 

“You have got to be kidding me,” the daughter of Aphrodite let out. “Your boyfriend is hot as hell, is there a particular reason why you wouldn’t you get off to that?”

 

“Valentina,” the son of Athena intervened, gesturing for her to back down. “I think I know what’s going on.” He pulled his chair around so that he was facing the son of Hades head on. The demigod shifted uncomfortably in front of him.

 

“Nico,” he started. “Do you not masturbate?”

 

The son of Hades flushed an even darker shade of red, which Malcolm personally had thought wouldn’t be possible.

 

“Never?” he pressed on.

 

Nico finally rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “No. Why would I? It’s filthy. And I don’t want to get sick.”

 

Malcolm sighed loudly through his nose. Valentina looked between them confusedly.

 

“What? I don’t get it, you’re not going to get sick from jerking off.”

 

“Yeah, but back when he was growing up, people thought you could get all sorts of diseases from it. They even thought circumcision could prevent it, which is why so many men in the USA today are still circumcised.”

 

At Nico’s blank stare, he explained. “Oh yeah, I guess for Europeans it was only common among Jewish people.”

 

Nico’s frown deepened. “What are you even talking about? What in Hades is circumcision?”

 

“It’s a form of genital mutilation wherein the foreskin of a male is – you know what, we’re getting off track here. The point it, masturbating is perfectly natural and okay for you to do. But only if you want to, of course,” he added precipitously. “If you don’t feel like you have any urge or inclination to, that’s also perfectly fine and natural. Here, I’m sure Will has another pamphlet somewhere, let me see...” he started riffling through the pile of documents Will had reluctantly shoved at him when Chiron had shot him down to explain sex to his boyfriend. Meanwhile,Valentina was starting up again.

 

“But you do want to at some point? I mean, it's fine if you don't, it would just really suck for all the stories some of my siblings are writing about you and Will.”

 

“He’s perfectly allowed to not want to have sex, Valentina. Your siblings will just have to get over themselves,” Malcolm muttered. “Aha!” He pulled a thin pamphlet out and pushed it over to the son of Hades, but before Nico could take it between two fingers, Valentina moved it away with a freshly painted nail.

 

“So judging by the state of your jeans right now, I’m going to run with you actually wanting to get it on,” she answered her own question, sounding like a cat with the canary. Nico glared at her and shifted in his chair again. “So instead, let’s have a little talk about jerking off.”

 

Malcolm almost felt sorry for the other boy, who looked like he was about to choke on his own spit.

 

“I’m sure Will’s got another pamphlet around here, just hold on,” he tried to head off the daughter of Aphrodite.

 

Valentina slapped the pile of pamphlets out of his hands so that they spilled all over the floor.

 

“Hey!”

 

“I am not letting you ruin this for me, Pace,” she hissed, sliding off the table. “Do you have any idea how little action I’ve gotten in the past few months? I spent every single end-of-summer party in the infirmary!”

 

Malcolm stood up as well. “You can’t just use him for your twisted games, he’s our student! We’re here to _educate_ him, this isn’t about us!”

 

“Oh please, like you’re not about to go beg Chiron to let you interview him for some paper on the history of getting off!”

 

“Well excuse me for taking any opportunity I can get to gather and preserve knowledge. In fact, you know what, Val? I might just write another paper about what kind of nympho uses innocent ninety-year old virgin teenagers for sacrifices to her weird kinks.”

 

“Oh now you’ve done it,” the daughter of Aphrodite snarled back, getting in his face. “Don’t you dare say a word about nymphomaniacs, those are my mother’s special blessings.”

 

“You mean curses, you sick – “

 

“Um, guys?”

 

The two demigods looked around. They were standing within a hair’s breadth of each other, Malcolm noticed.

 

“So, I’m just going to… “ the son of Athena stuttered, trying to back away, when Valentina grabbed the front of his shirt.

 

“I liked that,” she breathed. “Meet me behind the armory in ten minutes, while I finish off Death boy here.”

 

Then the son of Athena found himself getting shoved out the door as the daughter of Aphrodite slammed it shut and swung herself into his chair.

 

 

 

“Everything going all right?”

 

Malcolm looked around, breathing heavily. Will was sitting out on the floor next to the door of the room in the Big House they’d been using.

 

“Yes, everything is fine,” he answered, still somewhat disoriented. “Valentina’s just going to finish up, and then, uh...” He pointed down the hallway. “I just remembered, I need to go.”

 

Under the son of Apollo’s suspicious stare, he headed doggedly towards the front door, hoping no one was currently in the armory.

 

 

**Nico**

 

“So do you have any other questions?”

 

Nico shook his head. The last quarter of an hour had admittedly been far less painful once Malcolm had left, but he was still pretty much mortified. Valentina patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Don’t worry, everyone goes through this. You’ll feel more comfortable with it once you figure out what works for you. Now do you remember what I told you?”

 

The son of Hades nodded.

 

“Again, it’s not an order, and I’m not charmspeaking you, but I really think you should try it, even just one, to see. You’ll feel a lot more confident about all this stuff, all right? Just get yourself comfortable and think of the scenario I gave you. If it helps, I’m sure Will can lend you a sweatshirt or something. You guys are far past the time where you start wearing each other’s clothes anyway.”

 

Nico numbly stood up, shuffling the different pamphlets Malcolm had given him in his hands. There were so many, everything from diseases you _could_ get to packets of… things you were supposed to use, which Valentina had demonstrated the use of with a banana, a fruit Nico was no longer going to be eating.

 

“Nico?”

 

He looked up. Valentina had left the door open on her way out, and Will was peering in cautiously.

 

“You all right?”

 

The son of Hades nodded.

 

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I’m going to put this stuff in my cabin, I’ll ah, see you at dinner?”

 

The son of Apollo nodded understandingly, merely rubbing his shoulder as he walked past.

 

 

Down at his cabin, Nico stowed the pamphlets in the bottom of his dresser for oh, a few years or so. Since he had another half hour until dinner, he sat back against the headboard of his bed with one of his books, fully intending to finish it. But Valentina’s words kept echoing in his head. He shifted down. The covers still smelled slightly like Will from all the times he’d sneaked in. Nico sighed, the daughter of Aphrodite’s words running through his mind. Maybe he could give it a try.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently in the US, 58% of men today are circumcised because back in the 1870s, the guy who invented corn flakes thought it might prevent people from getting sick by masturbating. Don't believe me? Look up John Harvey Kellogg.
> 
> Again, apologies if I've offended anyone. Let me know, I'm open to modifications.


	11. If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick heads up, since my classes have started again, from now on, updates will only be once a week on Sunday. Cheers.

**Will**

 

“So I’m probably going to IM Reyna and Hazel this afternoon.”

 

Will’s head whipped around. Nico had dropped the news nonchalantly, still picking at the dregs of his breakfast cereal, but Will could tell he was tense, keeping an eye out for the son of Apollo’s reaction. Kayla and Austin on the other side of the table had stilled as well, interrupting their usual bickering. Since this rarely ever happened, Will knew he had to tread carefully.

 

“Sure, why not,” he settled on, keeping his tone lighthearted.

 

Nico relaxed imperceptibly, and Will heaved an inner sigh of relief.

 

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we talked, so I figured I should catch up with them.”

 

Will nodded, stabbing his spoon into his pot of yogurt with more force than strictly necessary.

 

“Right. Let me know the time, and maybe I’ll drop by as well.” He swallowed a mouthful of creamy strawberry goodness past the lump in his throat and pointed to his boyfriend with his spoon. “In the meantime, don’t you have disembowling practice with Malcolm?”

 

The son of Hades raised an eyebrow at him as Austin grimaced. “Gross.”

 

“Yeah, I should get going.”

 

Will smiled and licked off his spoon before blowing his boyfriend a kiss. As predicted, the other demigod promptly turned red and pushed himself off the bench, muttering about being late. As soon as he was out of earshot, the smile slid off Will’s face and he turned to his siblings.

 

“I changed my mind, _that_ was gross,” Austin commented, slurping up the last of the milk from his own cereal bowl.

 

“Shush, both of you,” he admonished. “We need to contact Reyna and let her know Nico’s going to IM them so she can intercept Hazel.”

 

“You mean _you_ need to contact Reyna and let her know Nico’s going to IM them so she can intercept Hazel,” corrected Kayla.

 

“Aw, come on guys, help me out here.”

 

His siblings exchanged a knowing smirk.

 

Will hedged for a second before giving in. “She scares me,” he admitted.

 

Kayla leaned forwards, like a lioness coming in for the kill.

 

“What’s in it for us?”

 

Will threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly. “What do you want?”

 

“Later curfew! No, wait! More slumber parties!”

 

“Shut up, Kayla, what we need is a synthesizer for the music room!”

 

“How about diamonds?” Connor Stoll grinned, sitting next to Austin and flinging an arm over his shoulders. The son of Apollo shoved him backwards off the bench without breaking his stride.

 

“Come on, Will, how awesome would a synthesizer be? I bet even you’d be able to figure out how to play it half decently.”

 

Will pointed a finger at his brother. “Aaand disqualified, remember never to insult the person you’re bargaining with. Kayla, what’ve you got?”

 

“Push back lights out by two hours and we’ve got a deal.”

 

“Ah, but I can’t do that, you guys rise with the sun, if lights out is that late you won’t get your eight hours.”

 

“Says the guy who routinely gets less than four when he does triple shifts in the infirmary,” his sister muttered, but when Will raised a finger menacingly, she backed down.

 

“Half an hour.”

 

“One hour.”

 

“Forty-five minutes.”

 

“Deal.”

 

“Aw, Kayla, you could’ve gone for at least fifty,” groaned Austin, but Will had already stretched his hand over the table, and Kayla took it without hesitation.

 

“Deal.”

 

“Great. Now let’s go poke the mother bear, shall we?”

 

 

**Reyna**

 

She was just getting out of the shower when the Iris Message appeared. Cursing, she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself in time for three demigods to appear.

 

The girl on the right, who had short red hair and the forearms of an archer, took in the praetor and whistled.

 

“Wow. Worth it.”

 

The boy on the left, another archer by the looks of him, punched the girl in the arm and she went toppling out of view.

 

“Apologies for my sister,” he smiled sweetly. “She’s a little rough around the edges, doesn’t quite have the words that would capture such beauty as yours.”

 

The boy sitting in the middle, who Reyna recognized as the healer who’d been treating Nico at the infirmary, dropped his face into his hands.

 

“Oh my gods, you guys. You’re supposed to be helping.”

 

“What?” the other boy, obviously his brother going by the smarmy child-of-Apollo-grade terrible flirting, asked innocently.

 

“Was there something you wanted, children of Apollo?” she asked resignedly, ducking out of view to grab her bathrobe from where she’d thrown it over the rack at the entry to the communal showers. “ Because unless it’s urgent, I suggest you call me back in, oh, ten minutes.”

 

“Yes, yes, that would be fine,” the healer, Will Solace, if she remembered correctly, (the very same Will who’d been a little too interested in her friend, she reminded herself), was quick to reply. “We’ll call back. And we’re terribly sorry about the trouble.”

 

“You mean you are,” muttered the red-head, slouching back into the picture. The healer shot her a frustrated look and waved his hand through the rainbow, letting Reyna pack up her things and head back to her room. On the way out, she was met with strange looks from a couple of legionnaires coming in from overnight guard duty.

 

“Everything all right, praetor?” one of them asked.

 

“Fine, girls. Haven’t you ever gotten an important phone call while you were in the shower?” she answered coolly, breezing past.

 

 

Back in her room, she quickly threw on a shirt, jeans and boots. The rainbow shimmered back into existence just as she was running a brush through her hair, so she twisted it up into a quick professional-looking bun (she hadn’t forgotten everything she’d learned on Circe’s island) before positioning herself in front of her window so the Greek demigods would be able to see out over the beautiful view of New Rome. They could always use healers, especially good ones like the son of Apollo Will Solace (never mind her personal thoughts about his designs on her best friend), so a little advertising might go a long way.

 

“Now tell me,” she asked imperiously. “What was it you wanted to talk about at this hour?”

 

The blond son of Apollo visibly swallowed. “Well, it’s about Nico, actually. We were hoping to speak to Reyna his friend, not Reyna the Praetor, but – “

 

“Is he all right?” she interrupted, doing her best to veil her sudden worry. She hadn’t heard much from Nico since his last Iris Message after Percy had tracked him down. They’d talked for almost two hours then, and at the end of it, she’d had impression he was going to be okay. Of course, she could have been wrong.

 

“He’s fine,” the healer reassured her.

 

“Good. Next time, lead with that.” The daughter of Bellona gave a hidden sigh of relief.

 

“Yeah, we’re actually calling because he actually said he was going to contact you and his sister Hazel this afternoon, and since after the last time he talked to Hazel, he almost got himself killed, we were wondering, if maybe you could, I don’t know – “

 

Reyna felt the need to put the son of Apollo out of his long-winded misery.

 

“Hazel is currently forbidden from contacting Nico when I’m not around,” she informed him, doing her best not to roll her eyes.

 

“Oh. Okay. Well that makes things easier.” The healer scratched his head. “Um, does Nico know this? Because he’s kind of protective of his sister, and he’s not too good at taking orders, or self-preservation or any of those things, so – “

 

“He knows, yes,” she interrupted again. “We agreed on it when we talked after he tried to run away.” She noticed the wince the son of Apollo gave when she mentioned Nico’s fugue. Interesting. “So really, there’s not need for you to worry about anything, Nico is well taken care of,” she added, testing the waters. As a Roman politician and a warrior, she’d trained herself to pick up the tiniest of visual cues from her adversaries, but none of this was necessary for the son of Apollo. His face was like an open book. Immediately after her claim, there flashed in quick succession relief, irritation, was that possessiveness? A slight hint of jealousy perhaps? And then his features smoothed and he settled for restrained respect.

 

“Well, as his doctor, that’s good for me to know, isn’t it?”

 

Maybe a bit of defiance as well. Time to go on the offensive.

 

“But that’s not all you are, is it.” She didn’t frame it as a question so much as an accusation. The son of Apollo paled.

 

“Leave us,” she ordered the other two demigods in her third most commanding tone, and the younger children of Apollo scrambled away.

 

“Guys, wait – aw, come on,” the healer complained, throwing his hands in the air before looking back at her. “All right. Give it to me. Although if this is another shovel talk, I should warn you, Jason and Annabeth beat you to it. Jason did physical harm and Annabeth went after my siblings. So unless you know any hit men in Austin, where my mom lives, there’s not much left for you to threaten.”

 

Reyna considered. She realized the demigod had just pretty much laid all his cards on the table, like he had nothing to hide. And he didn’t really seem worried about the other threats he’d received, which the praetor knew almost firsthand were not to be taken lightly. She decided she could respect that.

 

“Fine. Just tell me how you two are doing.” She did her best to drop the intimidation and put on a friendlier face, which ironically seemed to put the healer more on edge than anything else she’d done so far.

 

“Well. We spend a lot of time talking together. I help him with archery. He helps me in the infirmary, and I give him medical check-ups.”

 

Reyna resisted rolling her eyes.

 

“Specifically the romantic and physical aspects of your relationship, _frutex._ ”

 

The son of Apollo stopped short.

“Did you just call me a blockhead in latin?”

 

“… You speak latin.”

 

“Healer, remember? Half the medicines I use have latin names? _Matula_?”

 

Totally in spite of herself, Reyna was beginning to like this guy.

 

“Oh, _puer_ , you do not want to go down this road. Just stick to the report.”

 

The Greek demigod scowled. “I’m not one of your lackeys, praetor.”

 

Reyna gave him her predatory smile.

 

“No, but you are a potential threat to the happiness of a very dear friend of mine. So unless you can give me a good reason not to talk him into moving over to New Rome where I can keep an eye on him, you’d better get on with it.”

 

The demigod visibly paled again, and suddenly started talking really quickly.

  
“Well, we went to the end of summer fireworks together, and that’s where we kissed for the first time, and we’ve been kissing quite a bit since then, not like making out or anything, all above the waist and other clothes and really all very proper, and we eat meals together, sometimes we listen to music in his cabin – with the door always open, of course, we cuddle a little, especially when he has nightmares, but I never take advantage, I swear, you can trust me, I really want him to feel comfortable and I already swore on the Styx to Jason I’d never do anything he didn’t want, so really there’s no reason whatsoever to worry about me, I’m about as innocent as they come.”

 

The son of Apollo ended by raising his hands in the air, like he was being held at swordpoint. Reyna considered.

 

“You know I’m going to discuss all this with him, so I’ll find out if you’re lying about anything.”

 

Will winced. “Fine, sometimes the door is closed. But nothing happens, I swear!”

 

Reyna considered again.

 

“Well, that all seems to be in order. But don’t get too comfortable, I’ll be checking in every few weeks, understood?” She glared sternly, and the son of Apollo practically fell over himself nodding.

 

“Good. Then we’re done here.”

 

She gave a curt nod and waved her hand through the rainbow, before collapsing back onto her bed and attempting to muffle her laughter in her pillow.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested, there are several websites dedicated to insults used in ancient Rome, because reasons.
> 
> In this text, we have:  
> frutex: shrub; also, blockhead  
> matula: chamber pot; also, idiot
> 
> And puer: boy; also, child.


	12. And then Mama Bear said...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to make an appointment at the dentist's, because we've got enough tooth-rotting fluff coming for them to fall right out.

**Nico**

 

“Hey Reyna.”

 

“Hey Nico, what a surprise! How are you doing?”

 

The son of Hades smiled at his arguably oldest friend. Who he'd known for three months. Man, that thought was depressing.

 

“I’m okay. How about you?”

 

“I’m fine, thanks for asking. Are things at Camp Half-Blood all right? Not too many monster attacks since summer?”

 

Nico shook his head. “Barely anything, especially since most of the other campers left. There’s not enough of us gathered for our scent to cross the magical barriers. Even when monsters get close, they eventually wander off again.”

 

Reyna nodded understandingly. “Well, we wouldn’t know about that over here in New Rome, the city’s crowded year-round, and not just with demigods, but legacies too. We’ve had a few minor attacks, nothing the legion can’t handle. Personally, I think it might be our sheer numbers that scare them off.”

 

“Makes sense,” Nico agreed. “’Course we’d have to get all the grown Greek demigods back here to test that theory, right now they’re mostly scattered across the country.”

 

The praetor’s face grew thoughtful. “So there’s no real Greek equivalent to New Rome? No protected city, or community of demigods clustered for safety?”

 

The son of Hades shrugged. “I’ve never really considered it. I mean, I guess they still get attacked by monsters and such. Maybe they do have communities. I’d have to ask Chiron.” He hesitated. “Honestly, I never thought I’d live to be that old anyway.”

 

He weighted his words after speaking them. Strange. He’d decided to stay at Camp half-Blood, and he supposed that that would probably increase his chances of reaching adulthood, but he still hadn’t given much thought to what he’d do with his future. He’d fallen into the habit of living day to day. Will wanted to be a doctor. Kayla wanted to compete in the Olympics. And yet it didn’t feel quite right for the son of Hades to have plans for the future.

 

 

A slightly awkward silence had settled between them. Nico had grown used to being surrounded by chatterbox children of Apollo, so he’d maybe forgotten that Reyna was more of the strong, silent type. He cast about for a new topic.

 

“I’ve been practicing my shadow travel with Will and the other Apollo kids?” he offered. “It’s not going so well.” He grimaced at the thought. He kept passing out, even when he reached his target, and then got confined to the infirmary. Which wasn’t, you know, terrible. He fought to keep a straight face at the thought of the kisses he’d shared with Will during those days.

 

The praetor nodded understandingly. “Well, you did push pretty far past your limits last summer. I wouldn’t worry about it, you just need time to recover.”

 

The son of Hades nodded, though he still wasn’t convinced. Somehow, he felt like his relationship with the shadows had changed. They were warier of him now, like they no longer recognized him. He supposed that that was a good thing.

 

“Yeah, Will keeps saying that as well.”

 

Something flashed across Reyna’s face at the mention of the son of Apollo, and Nico felt the sudden need to change the subject.

 

“So how is everybody? Frank, and Hazel?” He kept his tone carefully controlled, not wanting to give away his nerves. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to his sister, he missed her a lot. It was just a bit difficult, given that if there was anything he should be talking about with her, it was Will, and that was something he couldn’t do. Not yet.

 

Reyna sighed. “The usual. No crazy wars, quests, or children of the Big Three ending up on our doorstep with the queen of the gods in tow, so there is that. Oh, right, the children of Vulcan had a question. Apparently, phones have started acting up, cutting people off mid-call, or not connecting at all. We’re not sure why, but we wanted to check if you’ve had any similar problems.”

 

Nico thought back. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I don’t have a phone, and when I use Will’s, it’s not really to place calls, or anything, just watching videos and stuff.”

 

Reyna nodded. “Just watching videos?” she smirked, and Nico scowled.

 

“What’s it to you?”

 

“Nothing, you’re right, I’m sorry.” For some reason, the praetor still looked smug. But the look slowly faded.

 

“So Hazel wanted to talk to you, and if you do as well, we can probably set up a call later this afternoon. Right now she’s doing drills with the rest of the standing force.”

 

Nico nodded, like he hadn’t intentionally contacted Reyna during the legion troops’ training hours.

 

“Okay, I’m looking forwards to talking to her. It’s been a while.” He made sure his tone was casual enough that his friend the politician saw right through it.

 

“So are you going to tell her?”

 

“Tell her what?” He almost winced at how bad his casual tone had gone. Glancing up, he got a stern look.

 

“About Will.”

 

“What about him?”

 

“Cut the crap Nico, I called him this morning and bullied him into telling me how far your relationship’s progressed, and threaten him a bit.”

 

“You did what?!”

 

She rolled her eyes at him. “Did you seriously think I wasn’t going to make sure he’s treating you all right? Come on, Nico, I’m a better friend than that.”

 

“But why would you threaten him?” the son of Hades sputtered. “No. I am not okay with that. You can just threaten my...” He broke off abruptly. “Boyfriend. You can’t just threaten my boyfriend. I won’t allow it.” He looked up, suddenly feeling himself grin.

 

Reyna regarded him oddly. “Um, Nico? You okay? You look kind of… cheerful.”

 

Nico shook his head, straightening his face, although he could still feel the corners of his mouth move up.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just haven't really gotten used to calling him that yet.”

 

Reyna smiled at him fondly.

 

“I hope you will.”

 

Nico found himself smiling dopily again, until his mind caught up to their conversation.

 

“What were we saying again? Oh, right, you can’t just go threatening my boyfriend!”

 

Reyna shook her head. “Oh please, I wasn’t that bad. No worse than Annabeth, and a hell of a lot better than Jason.”

 

“What.”

 

Reyna looked up. “Oh. You didn’t know.”

 

“I did not,” Nico fumed, already mentally trying to figure out how to fit Chad the headless zombie into a package and mail him to Piper’s dad’s house. Did you need express shipping for the undead?

 

“Well, whatever you decide to do, you know we’ve got your back. Frank’s been working with Hazel to help her understand, and you’re not going to be alone with her.”

 

Nico nodded curtly. He felt like he should be protesting the need for a supervisor to be around when he spoke with his own sister, but for some reason, he decided not to press. Would you look at that. Maybe he was starting to develop that sense of self preservation Will had so often accused him of lacking.

 

“So I’ll call you back around five o’clock, how’s that?” the praetor asked, flipping through what looked like a day-timer. “And I suggest you talk your boyfriend into attending. It would be good for him to be there.”

 

“Are you sure that’s going to help?” Nico wondered out loud. “Will isn’t exactly a big fan of Hazel’s.”

 

“Oh, he’s not for Hazel,” the praetor commented absentmindedly, looking over her planner. “He’s for you.”

 

Nico felt himself turn red. “What?”

 

The daughter of Bellona regarded him severely. “Yeah, to knock you out and tie you to an infirmary bedpost if you try to run away again.”

 

 

 

**Will**

 

He was busy sorting through his patient files when the door of the infirmary office opened. He glanced up and beamed at the sight of his boyfriend.

 

“Hey you.”

 

“Hey.”

 

Nico approached the desk, looking rather pissed off.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Just going through the backlog of paperwork from the days after the battle. Did you know Jake Mason is our current record-holder for most broken bones not directly attributable to monsters?”

 

“Wow. Fascinating.”

 

Will hummed, handing over a couple of files.

 

“You know it. We’ll have to give him a medal at some point. Maybe the Ares cabin can cobble something together. Gods know they need something to do during Arts and Crafts. The number of times I’ve treated glue gun burns on them… ”

 

Nico nodded as he leaned against the desk, flipping through the files in a semi-interested way. The son of Apollo considered him for a few moments, making sure he’d relaxed.

 

“So what was it you wanted to ask?”

 

Predictably, the son of Hades jumped and looked up guiltily.

 

“What?”

 

Will made a show of rolling his eyes. “You know, you act as head counselor for the Apollo cabin long enough, you start to get pretty good at figuring out when someone wants something from you. Spill.”

 

Nico looked back down at the open file in his hands, rubbing the pages between his fingers. Will kind of wanted to lace them with his own and kiss them, but that was beside the point.

 

“Reyna wants you to be there when I talk to Hazel this afternoon.”

 

Will breathed out slowly. So that was what was up. He was pretty sure his boyfriend knew that the healer blamed his sister for his running away, Will hadn’t exactly been subtle about it.

 

“Sure, of course I’ll be there.”

 

Nico still looked irritated. “Great. So Reyna is calling around five, is that okay for you?”

 

Will frowned, putting down the pile of files to get a better look at the son of Hades. “Yeah, that works. Shall I meet you at your cabin?”

 

Nico nodded, examining his fingernails.

 

“There’s also the small matter of certain threats Reyna mentioned you’d gotten. How long do you think it would take a zombie to hitchhike across the country and break Jason’s jaw?”

 

Will huffed, relaxing. So that was why Nico was annoyed.

 

“More time and energy than you have to keep it going, love. Don’t worry about it.”

 

His boyfriend glared. “Why is everyone so casual about this?”

 

“Because, darling, it’s just a sign that they care. There’s no point in getting worked up about it. Believe me, if you weren’t one hundred percent innocent and simultaneously terrifying, you would’ve gotten a talking to from some of my friends as well.”

 

“What do you mean, one hundred percent innocent? You know I’ve probably killed more monsters, and even people than most of your _friends_ – ”

 

He was cut off abruptly when Will stood up and rounded the desk, smirking slightly as he ran his hands down Nico's sides to his legs and effortlessly sat him on top of the files he’d thrown across the desk. (He was going to have to review his boyfriend’s weight gain plan. Lifting him was still much too easy.) Nico’s breath hitched and Will stepped between his legs, running a finger over his beet-red cheek.

 

“You were saying?”

 

The son of Hades seemed to shake himself, slapping Will’s hand away.

 

“So you’re saying you’d be perfectly fine with your friends trying to choke me?”

 

Will frowned. “Of course not. I’d probably beat the crap out of anyone who tried.”

 

Nico waved his hands about agitatedly.

 

“Then why do you expect me to be so calm when it’s you? I’m not just going to not get worked up about it when people threaten my boyfriend!”

 

Will immediately felt a giant smile spread across his face. Nico was still blushing kind of adorably and biting his lip after his outburst, which Will felt the need to correct by kissing him breathlessly. Although initially taken aback by his enthusiasm, his boyfriend eventually got into it, wrapping his arms around Will’s neck and running a hand through his hair. The healer groaned, pushing Nico further back onto the desk to slide a hand up his leg. He caught himself before he went too high, stopping around mid thigh and choosing to push his tongue into Nico’s mouth instead.

 

They were mid make-out and Will’s hair was a mess when Austin walked into the office before stopping dead and whistling. The son of Apollo briefly pulled back, whispering “be right back” against Nico’s breathless lips before turning to march his brother out the door and slam it after him. Although he was obviously embarrassed about being walked in on, Nico smile and happily accepted another kiss.

 

 

 

 


	13. "My brother is gay, and my parents don't care as long as he marries a doctor."

**Hazel**

 

Hazel rubbed her arm nervously as she waited in one of the praetor’s offices for five o’clock to roll around. She glanced over at Frank and he gave her a reassuring nod. They were sitting behind Reyna on her side of the desk while the praetor fiddled with a prism, trying to get a good rainbow out of the late afternoon sun.

 

“Okay, that should do it,” she muttered, adjusting the piece of glass imperceptibly. “So, before we do this, Hazel,” she leveled a stern gaze at the centurion, “I will have absolutely no hate speech out of you, no matter what happens. Understood?”

 

Hazel nodded weakly. She had a really bad feeling about this, but Frank was on board, and she trusted his judgment. She shot him another nervous look and he leaned over to grasp her hand supportively.

 

“All right. Oh goddess Iris, accept our offering.” Reyna tentatively threw a Greek drachma through the rainbow and it shimmered out of existence. “Show us Nico di Angelo! Um, please?” The praetor amended, as if remembering that she was addressing a goddess. Iris didn’t seem to take offense at being ordered around though, and soon Hazel’s brother swam into view. He was sprawled across his new bed, watching a video on a phone with a blond guy the daughter of Pluto recognized as the son of Apollo who’d treated her brother in the infirmary. Will, was it? Strangely, the healer had an arm draped over Nico’s shoulders, but then she remembered he’d been rather touchy. And it was good that her brother was getting some human contact instead of always flinching away.

 

“Nico?”

 

At Reyna’s slightly confused call, the two boys jumped, scrambling apart and pulling the headphones out of their ears.

 

“Finally!” Her brother’s face was red. “I thought you said five o’clock!”

 

Reyna wordlessly held up her phone, which showed five on the dot. The son of Hades did a double take, picking up the phone he’d been watching the video on. It must have belonged to Will.

 

“But that can’t be, we already had dinner,” her brother stammered. “Five o’clock was hours ago.”

 

The healer suddenly smacked himself on the forehead.

 

“Right. Time zones.”

 

Reyna nodded, looking amused. “Time zones,” she agreed.

 

Nico sighed and fell back onto the bed. “Great. We thought you’d forgotten.” The son of Apollo smirked and rubbed his knee.

 

“So, long time no see, praetor.” The healer nodded at Reyna in a way that could almost have been qualified as cheeky, Hazel thought. The daughter of Bellona just rolled her eyes.

 

“Cut the act, Solace, Nico knows.”

 

“Yeah, speaking of which, you’re not allowed to threaten him anymore.” The son of Hades glared at Reyna through the rainbow.

 

“What are you guys talking about?” the daughter of Pluto finally asked. She wasn’t the only one who was confused. Frank was looking between the two sides of the rainbow bemusedly, like he couldn’t quite believe how casually the son of Apollo was acting around an ambassador of the god of Death and a Praetor. Never mind that neither outranked the son of Mars. His modesty was one of the things Hazel loved about her boyfriend.

 

Nico had looked up, and Hazel could have sworn there was wariness in his eyes when he looked at her.

 

“Nothing, forget about it. Hey Hazel.”

 

She smiled happily. “Hi Nico. It’s been a while, how are you?”

 

Immediately, everyone in the room and the Hades cabin stiffened. For some reason, the healer was glaring at her, and even Frank looked uneasy. The son of Mars squeezed her hand and she had to swallow.

 

“I’m okay, how about you? And Frank, hey.”

 

“I’m good, thanks.” The son of Mars also nodded stiffly.

 

An awkward silence settled between them. Nico was seemingly having a whispered argument with Will, and Reyna was pointedly examining a document on the desk in front of her.

 

“So you’re Will, right?” the daughter of Pluto finally ventured.

 

The healer interrupted his whispering with her brother and looked up rather irritatedly. “Yeah, Will Solace. We met in the infirmary after the war, remember? You told me to take good care of your brother?”

 

Nico punched the other demigod in the shoulder.

 

“What?” Hazel heard the son of Apollo whine as he rubbed it, but Nico shushed him.

 

“Yeah, we have some news actually.”

 

Her brother seemed nervous, but also upbeat. Hazel grinned and leaned forwards as he gave the son of Apollo a nervous look. Anything that made her brother happy was good news in her book.

 

“Yeah, what’s up?”

 

Nico took a deep breath.

 

“Will is my boyfriend.”

 

It took Hazel a few seconds to disentangle the words that had been thrown out so quickly they melted together.

 

“Excuse me?” she asked weakly, sure she had misunderstood.

 

The son of Apollo shot her another glare and laced his fingers together with her brother’s, then lifted their intertwined hands to kiss his knuckles reassuringly. Hazel felt like her brain was working too slowly to process.

 

“Nico?” she whispered incredulously.

 

Her brother was refusing to look at her, but she could tell his face had fallen. Reyna gave a pointed cough, raising her eyebrow at the centurion. She was clearly trying to convey a message, but Hazel couldn’t figure out what.

 

“Er, how long?” she asked, scrambling for something to say, something to hang onto. Dates. She could do dates.

 

“We officially got together during the fireworks at the end of Camp Half-Blood’s summer session,” the son of Apollo announced proudly, “although I like to think we clicked even before then.” He moved in closer to Nico (which Hazel hadn’t even thought possible at this point), nearing their faces with a brilliant smile on his lips. Nico was blushing, a detached part of her brain that hadn’t gotten the marching order for complete shutdown noted, and even gave a small smile back. He looked happy. Embarrassed, but happy. But when the healer leaned in with the obvious intent of kissing him (and Hazel thought she distinctly felt another part of her brain surrender), he pushed the other boy back, glancing through the rainbow. As soon as he caught sight of Hazel’s expression, the happiness seemed to fade.

 

“That… that was more than a month ago,” Hazel murmured bemusedly. “We’ve talked since then, why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Nico shrugged uncomfortably. “I didn’t feel ready, Haze. And I was kind of worried about what you’d think.”

 

He added the last part more quietly, and his sad tone seemed to jolt Hazel’s brain back into action. Her brother had been in a relationship for more than a month and he’d been afraid to tell her. Her mind decided to store away the freak out over her brother dating a guy for later and concentrate on that simple fact. He was in a relationship and it made him happy, and he’d been afraid to tell her. She was the one making him unhappy. She had to change that. She couldn’t lose more family. Not after her mother, not after Sammy, not after Leo. Not Nico.

 

“That’s great news!” Everyone looked up. Will had even stopped glaring.

 

“So uh…” What did one say to a brother’s boyfriend? Hazel cast a desperate glance at Frank, before remembering that it was Frank, and turning to Reyna. (She loved her boyfriend, she really did, but sometimes she felt like the gods had been laughing when they gave him the ability to turn into a goldfish, because he did tend to kind of look like one in awkward situations.) Luckily, the other praetor was much faster on the uptake and immediately came to her rescue, looking smug.

 

“Yes, I just gave Will the adequate threats this morning to make sure he’s good to our Nico, would you like to add anything, Hazel?”

 

Now Nico was the one glaring, while Will barely rolled his eyes.  Hazel winced.

 

“You know I don’t really know Will all that well?” she ventured. Nico sighed and stopped glowering, wrapping a hand around Will’s arm protectively.

 

“I guess there is one thing, though,” she added thoughtfully. Everyone looked at her curiously.

 

“I’m going to be the flower girl at your wedding, right?”

 

She smiled, satisfied, as her brother turned red and choked on his own spit.

 

 

**Nico**

 

 

He felt light. Like a weight he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying had been lifted off his shoulders, similarly to when he’d confessed to Percy, or had the shadows purged from his system. He’d managed to tell Hazel, and they were still talking. They were actually having a civilized conversation with Will’s arm still draped over his shoulder and his other hand rubbing circles into Nico’s knee. Admittedly he got the feeling that his sister might be holding onto sanity by just a few threads, but it was _out_ now. There wasn’t anyone left whose opinion he cared about who didn’t know. He glanced sideways at Will, blushing when the healer caught his eye and smiled softly. “Thank you” his boyfriend mouthed at him, squeezing his knee. And it seemed like for the first time, Nico could consider that this relationship of theirs was real. That it wasn’t some passing thing that would be cut away from him, but something genuinely built to last. He leaned closer into his boyfriend and felt his arm tighten in response. When he looked back across the rainbow, he first caught Reyna’s watchful look, examining every gesture they made and no doubt cataloging it away in a folder marked “Future potentially dead people”. He scowled at her and was treated to a smirk before his gaze drifted back over to Hazel and her own boyfriend. Frank was keeping a fond eye on his girlfriend, though he nodded reassuringly at the son of Hades when he caught his gaze, and Nico knew that if Hazel ever changed her mind, the son of Mars would be there to stop her. He nodded back gratefully.

 

His sister was rambling on  nervously  about some story of a couple of legionnaires who’d gotten locked in the armory overnight and who she’d discovered curled up around each other for warmth on a pile of training dummies. She suspected the girls might have been fighting, based on how disheveled they were when she’d found them. (Out of the corner of his eye, Nico saw Reyna make a note on a piece of paper. No doubt a certain two soldiers were about to get disciplined.)

 

Hazel was in the middle of describing putting the shields back in their proper places when it started. The rainbow seemed to flicker. Once, twice, three times. Nico leaned forwards.

 

“Hazel, this connection’s breaking up. Call you back another time?”

 

His sister nodded, swallowing. “Of course. I still need to get to know Will after all.” Nico could detect a faint tremble in her voice, but she hid it bravely. The son of Hades made a conscious decision not to be bothered by it, turning to Reyna.

 

“And we will also talk again in a few days. Don’t be a stranger, all right, di Angelo?”

 

Nico nodded. “Okay.”

 

The praetor then turned to Will. “Son of Apollo, look after him for me, all right?”

 

The healer nodded determinedly. For once, the two demigods seemed to be in perfect agreement.

 

“All right. See you soon.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, couple of things. 
> 
> First off, from here on out, spoiler alert for Trials of Apollo, because that will actually start mattering to the plot.
> 
> Secondly, @MJM made an excellent suggestion that I actually follow up on the "Back in the Armory" smut instead of just cruelly teasing it, so that will go up sometime next week probably.
> 
> Peace.


	14. These damn kids and their phones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:  
> Clio: muse of History  
> Thalia: muse of comedy  
> Melponeme: muse of tragedy

**Will**

 

“It’s no use, Nico, it’s not going to work.”

 

Nico scowled at the pile of drachmas littering the floor on the other side of the rainbow cobbled together from a diamond he’d managed to pull from the ground and one of the infirmary’s sun lamps. They’d been trying to Iris Message Camp Jupiter for two days now, with no success. It might have looked like the goddess had just decided to take an impromptu vacation, except that phones hadn’t been able to connect either. Emails returned error notifications, and that one time when Austin had taped a message and uploaded it to Youtube, it had immediately been taken down. Now, while his brother worked on a saxophone version of Adele’s “Hello” and Chiron tried to get in contact with Olympus to try and talk someone into pulling their heads out of their asses and check on Iris, Will was stuck keeping his boyfriend from destroying the wall paneling in his cabin by throwing money at it.

 

“Look, I get that you’re upset.” The healer grabbed Nico’s wrist to pull him away from the rainbow. “But I’m sure everything is fine.”

 

Nico shook his head, shrugging Will off and throwing himself onto his bed.

 

“I’m an idiot. Reyna asked me about the phones. And I forgot.”

 

Will hesitated for a moment before sitting on the bed next to him.

 

“Come again?”

 

The son of Hades rolled onto his back to look up at the ceiling.

 

“She mentioned that they’d been having trouble, interference with their phones, and she wanted to know if we were having a similar problem here. I should have known something was up, but it just completely slipped my mind, with talking to Hazel and everything.”

 

Will huffed, rubbing Nico’s stomach through his shirt.

 

“I hardly think you can be blamed for that, old timer,” he joked. “It’s not like you’re a big phone user.”

 

Nico scowled and slapped his hand away.

 

“I should have realized this would happen. What if that was just the first move to cut them off from their allies? What if they’re under attack? What if we’re going to be under attack?”

 

“Nobody’s going to be under attack,” Will reassured. “We’d definitely have noticed an increase in monster activity, like before the last two wars. It’s probably just Hephaestus messing around with Hermes again.”

 

He placed his hand on his boyfriend’s stomach again. “Relax,” he breathed, leaning in closer. Nico reluctantly smiled before wrapping his arms around Will’s neck and letting himself be kissed into oblivion.

 

 

 

 

**Nico**

 

“So what was it you were saying about increased monster attacks?”

 

They were standing over the smoking corpse of a hellhound that had decided to test its strength against Camp Half-Blood’s borders. Normally, they would have just let it tire itself out, but the hound’s howls had been driving Mrs O’Leary insane, keeping them up at all hours of the night.

 

Will scratched the back of his head with the fletching of an arrow. “Coincidence.”

 

“This is the third monster in four days.”

 

“So?”

 

 

Nico rolled his eyes. “I don’t like it Solace. Something is up, and you know it.”

 

He looked around at the rest of the demigods who’d joined them. Kayla was trying to see how many arrows she could get back intact from the rapidly disintegrating corpse, and Malcolm was petting Ladon, who looked just as disgruntled and sleep-deprived as the rest of them. The Victor siblings had only showed up in time to see the hellhound fall, and were now arguing about who had run up the hill the fastest. An eagle circled high up above.

 

 

“Come on guys, let’s see if Chiron has any news.”

 

 

 

“I’m afraid I have some troubling news.”

 

The assembled head counselors collectively groaned.

 

“It’s not another world-ending prophecy, is it? ‘Cause that’s getting really old,” Valentina grumbled.

 

“No, my dear, not that bad,” Chiron appeased, though he still looked troubled. Nico caught him glancing sideways at Will. “I’m afraid Apollo will ah… not be with us for a while.”

 

The head healer sat up. “Why, what happened?!”

 

“Well, Clio could unfortunately not be very clear, she argued that she lacked verifiable sources to confirm this, but he’s either decided to go into long term hiding to escape his father, or he has already been caught by Zeus and is currently being contained while his father decides how to punish him.

 

“So he’s been sent to his room for a timeout?” Nyssa asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Well, that, or he has been kidnapped and is currently being held by some darker force, but Thalia ensures me that Melponeme is merely being dramatic.”

 

Nico glanced over at Will and was alarmed to see the healer had slumped over in his chair. He hesitated, before nudging his boyfriend with his shoulder. Will shot him a small smile before looking down again, and Nico groaned internally. Why was he so terrible at this?

 

“So aren’t we going to have a quest or something to find him?” Sherman looked around the room with a confused expression.

 

“Yeah, a quest!” The Victor twins (Nico still could not, for the life of him, tell them apart) glared at each other, like they were getting ready to race each other to volunteer.

 

“It’s not that simple, guys,” Malcolm pointed out. “Remember how Rachel said there’s trouble with the prophecies?”

 

Laurel (was that Laurel?) raised an eyebrow. “So?”

 

Nyssa rolled her eyes. “You can’t have a quest without a prophecy, nuts and bolts.”

 

“Oh. Right.”

 

“Now wait a minute. Couldn’t this trouble with the prophecies be directly connected to the trouble Apollo’s in? Maybe we need to find him just to restore the quests.” Connor Stoll looked over at Will, and Nico kind of wanted to rip his head off.

 

“Well, before we come to any hasty conclusions, we definitely should try to contact the Pythia again,” Chiron interrupted. “On the bright side, the muses were able to confirm that Iris is perfectly fine, and that the interference we are experiencing is outside of her control.”

 

Chiara scoffed. “How is that good news?”

 

The centaur regarded her severely. “Well, I do consider the knowledge that my good friend Iris is all right to be quite reassuring, Ms Benvenuti.”

 

Chiara had the decency to look slightly ashamed. “Right.”

 

“How about your wife, is she reassured, Chiron?” Valentina muttered under her breath, filing away at her middle finger.

 

The old centaur’s cheeks colored, and the daughter of Aphrodite smirked.

 

“However, as our Oracle is no longer a zombie in the attic, we will need to send a couple of demigods into the city to meet Rachel. Will, of course I imagine you want to go?”

 

The son of Apollo nodded silently, still looking at his hands.

 

Nico was about to protest that there was no way Will was leaving camp, not without all the monster attacks recently, when Chiron turned to him.

“So now tell me Nico, how is your shadow traveling coming along?”

 

 

 

The rest of the meeting was spent persuading Will that shadow travel was the best way to get to Manhattan, and making plans. Since Nico was bound to pass out for a good long while after transporting himself and Will over that distance (or kill them both, as Will remarked), they decided they’d have to impose on the Jackson-Blofis household’s hospitality again. Once Nico was rested, Percy and Annabeth would be able to help them track down Rachel at her fancy prep school. Will finally agreed once they’d scheduled the jump for Friday night, allowing the son of Hades an entire night and two home meals to recuperate, even though the idea of forcing himself (and guest) on another family for such a long time still made Nico uncomfortable.

 

“Oh come off it, that woman loves you,” scoffed Connor, when he attempted to argue that he could also just pawn a diamond and get them a hotel room. “I bet she’d adopt you in a second if she could. You’re really going to hurt her feelings by going out of your way to stay away. She's pregnant, isn't upsetting her illegal or something?”

 

“Connor, shut up,” Will hissed for some reason, turning red. The son of Hermes took him in for a second before breaking out into a grin. “Although if you and Will want to share a hotel room all alone, I guess, who am I to judge?”

 

“There will be no sharing of hotel rooms,” Chiron said severely, anand that was that.


	15. Milk

**Percy**

 

He was only halfway through his trig homework when there was a bang and a scream from the living area. Throwing his ordinary pen down, he lunged across the room towards the door, drawing Riptide as he went to investigate. He’d be damned if he let any monsters anywhere near his mom.

 

When he finally made it to the kitchen nook, he nearly took Will Solace’s head off, managing to stop the blade just a hair’s breadth away from the other demigod’s neck.

 

“Jackson, I swear to all the gods if you don’t move that sword right now I will shove it so far up your ass you won’t be able to speak.” Nico was leaning against the counter, sopping wet and covered in milk, the wet strands in his face fluttering as he cussed out the son of Poseidon. Percy rolled his eyes and shrunk his sword back to a pen. “Sorry, Solace.” The healer shook his head, smiling patiently and Percy noticed that he was also covered in milk. Looking around, he finally spotted his mom standing in a corner, holding a now empty milk bottle.

 

“I’m so sorry boys, you just startled me, it was a reflex.”

 

Will shook his head again, pulling at his coat to examine the stain. “No, we’re the sorry ones, ma’am, we should've called ahead, but with the phones down and Iris bein’ blocked it wasn’t possible to. Terribly sorry.”

 

Percy frankly couldn’t tell whether it was the southern charm the son of Apollo was suddenly spreading like cream cheese on a bagel, or just his ordinary perpetually calm aura, but his mom relaxed immediately.

 

“Don’t worry about it dear, here, let me throw that in the wash, it’ll be clean in no time.”

 

Will was in the process of agreeably pulling off his jacket, when Nico suddenly raised a hand, using the other to clutch at the counter.

 

“I’m sorry too,” he gasped, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

 

Percy immediately lunged forwards to catch him, which was unfortunate because Will had the same reflex. They met in the middle, their skulls coming together in a hair-raising crack. Well, at least Nico’s fall was well cushioned by two sets of arms.

 

“Ow, what the Hades, Jackson?” The son of Apollo shook his head like he was trying to clear it.

  


“Sorry, buddy,” he replied. They paused for a moment, the healer fixing him with an impatient look until Percy finally got the hint and backed up, allowing the other demigod to pull Nico into his arms.

  


“Here, put him on the couch,” his mom instructed, ushering them to the living area.

  


Will gently lay the son of Hades down, brushing a few strands of hair tenderly from his face before reaching for his wrist to take his pulse.

  


“Is he all right?” Percy’s mom asked nervously, sitting on the coffee table.

  


The son of Apollo tutted, lifting the digits up to the light, no doubt checking their opacity. Finally, he lay the arm gently back to Nico’s side.

  


“Yeah, he’ll be fine, he just needs to sleep it off.” He stood and stretched.

  


“So what’s up, why are you visiting? This better just be a courtesy call,” Percy warned.

  


Will grimaced. “Have you been having any trouble using Iris messages, or phone calls lately?”

  


Percy thought back. “Phones, no. I’ve been keeping in touch with Annabeth that way, but I haven’t Irised anyone since this summer. Why?”

  


“We’ve been cut off. Can’t contact Camp Jupiter, can’t contact any other demigods. Not even you or Annabeth.”

  


Percy groaned internally. This was exactly the sort of thing that could lead to trouble he was so, so very done with. He was supposed to graduate this year, for gods’ sakes. But looking down at Nico, he knew he didn’t have a choice. Some debts had to be paid.

  


“ Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll go try Iris messages right now.  You can help yourself to some dry clothes from my closet," he added, seeing the son of Apollo pull at his wet shirt. He then stomped off back to his room to grab his prism and a bag of drachmas in order to reassure himself that he was not in any way going to be affected by this new madness.

 

Twenty very depressing minutes and a slightly frantic phone call with his girlfriend later, he returned to the living room to find Will freshly showered and wearing a shirt and jeans slightly too small for him (though Percy reassured himself that the shirt at least hung loosely around the healer's chest and arms), and apparently trying to undress his still unconscious boyfriend.

 

"Dude, seriously? I've already held a sword to your throat once today, don't give me a reason to do it again."

 

The healer rolled his eyes. "Oh, relax, I'm just getting him out of his wet clothes and into the bathtub quick, I doubt he wants to wake up smelling like spoiled milk."

 

Percy considered for a moment.

 

"Yeah, sorry, not going to happen.Why don't you go get him some clothes and I'll handle the getting your boyfriend naked part."

 

"What? No way, Jackson, back off." The healer quickly stood, blocking the son of Poseidon when he tried to move to the couch.

 

"Seriously Solace" he snapped irritatedly. "The kid's like a little brother to me, I'm going to look out for him. So move." Or be moved was implied.

 

"Oh really," snarled the healer. It reminded Percy of the fair number of other times the son of Apollo had acted strangely angry around him, including that one time in the infirmary when Nico had also passed out. "Just a little brother, huh? One you apparently had no problem sending out on godforsaken errands halfway around the world instead of keeping him safe, or actually allowing him to get over you instead of making damn sure you were the only gods damn person he ever had eyes for!"

Will abruptly cut off, like he'd revealed more than he wanted to, and Percy came to a dawning realization.

"Are you jealous?" he asked, stunned. Sure, he knew that some campers felt that, as a child of the Big Three, he kept getting all the attention. The Ares cabin weren't so good at keeping their voices down. But this, this went far beyond mere attentions seeking. This was honest to gods, downright jealous rage, like he felt when Annabeth reminisced about Luke's so-called good sides and her eyes glazed over, or when Artemis had tried to recruit her.

Will had turned back to Nico, slipping his shirt over his head, and Percy's eyes were instantly drawn to his shoulders, where Lycaon's claw marks still glowed white. He'd overheard one of Will's siblings in the infirmary when he'd been visiting his friend. The scars would most likely be permanent. Percy didn't have any of those, he'd always been lucky enough to have ambrosia, or a medic, or the curse of Achilles on hand. But Annabeth had scars. She had the poisoned wound from the battle of Manhattan, from a blade she'd taken to save his life. Will had been the one to heal her, he remembered. He'd only been twelve, he remembered, the same age Percy had managed to reach before even knowing he was a demigod. And still older than Nico when he'd showed up at that battle to save all their behinds. Had that been when Will had first seen the son of Hades, he wondered. No, surely Nico had been at camp before that. When had Will fallen for him? How long had this been going on? 

"Look," he tried. "I think I might know how you feel. Really, I do. I mean, when Annabeth would talk about Luke, sometimes I felt like hunting him down and ripping out his throat. But... I just don't think Nick would be comfortable with you...you know. Seeing him."

The son of Apollo snorted. "And I suppose you think I feel comfortable with you doing it instead?"

"Well, no, but come on, he's like my little brother-"

"Yeah, and Annabeth was like a little sister to Luke, but I doubt you'd want him giving her a bath-"

"Aw, come on, Solace, that's different-"

"Why? Because she's a girl?"

"No, because he kept trying to kidnap her-"

"Well at least he never sent her to get hurt-"

"OKAY, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?"

The two demigods looked up. Without realizing, they'd gotten in each other's faces, and so had failed to notice his girlfriend's arrival.

"Oh. Hi honey. We were just..."

"Yeah, we just were discussing..."

Both boys quailed under the daughter of Athena's icy gaze.

"I won't ask. Why is Nico half-dressed and covered in milk?"

"We were just going to give him a bath," Will supplied hastily at the reproachful look he was being shot, but Annabeth ignored him, pushing past to pull the son of Hades into her arms.

"Fine. I'll do that and you two can continue to hash out, respectively,  _ your  _ insane jealousy (she glared at Will) and  _ your  _ massive guilt complex (she raised an eyebrow at Percy), both of which are causing you to be massively overprotective, although I'd appreciate if you left  _ my  _ personal life out of it."

The two of them nodded guiltily. "Yeah, sure thing, Annabeth."

"Yes dear."

They made room for her to sweep past regally, cradling the son of Hades carefully against her chest.

 

 

"So."

"Yeah."

"Well. Want something to eat?"

"Oh, sure. I think we have some cookies left. Milk?"

"Seriously, Jackson?"

"Right. Sorry."

 

They finally settled at the kitchen table, munching on chocolate chip cookies in complete silence.

"I'm not hearing any hashing!" yelled his girlfriend from the bathroom.

Percy sighed.

"Fine. I'll go first.Yeah, I feel horrible for what happened to Nico. Really. If I could go back and change my behavior, of course I would. But I can't. I'm sorry."

Will chewed for a moment, then sighed as well.

"And I know I can be a jealous ass when it comes to Nico. I've been trying to work on it."

"All right."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"..."

"So who gets which boundaries?" mentioned Annabeth as she walked past with a pair of Percy's favorite Nemo pajamas thrown over her arm.

"Aw, come on, Annie, those are my favorite," he complained.

"They're hideous and this is as good a reason as any to get rid of them," came the retort.

Will smirked, though there was a muscle ticking in his jaw.

"See, I'm trying, but I honestly don't love the idea of  _ my  _ boyfriend dressed in  _ your  _ pajamas," the son of Apollo muttered. 

"And I don't like how crazy possessive you are," Percy immediately shot back. "Why does it matter that he's in my pajamas, it's not like he's sleeping in my bed-"

"Actually, I think he gets your bed tonight and you two idiots will be sharing the couch," his loving girlfriend yelled from the bathroom, before the sound of a hairdryer set in.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just stop acting like I'm going to sleep with him and then stab him, would you? I know I screwed up and unknowingly took advantage of his crush, but I'm not doing that anymore. So just cut it out."

"Fine. And I'm not going to take advantage of him  _ ever,  _ and not just because three way more terrifying demigods than you already threatened me and made me swear on the Styx not to, but because I'm genuinely in love with him, not to mention, contrary to what you all seem to believe, not actually a pervert, so if you could just stop throwing around your holier-than-thou attitude and stop acting like you know what's best for your  _ little brother,  _ that would be great."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Great, so that's settled," finished Annabeth, sweeping into the room, her hair up in a messy bun with a toothbrush jabbed through it. "Nico's sleeping in Percy's room -don't worry, I changed the sheets, she added for Will,- so why don't you tell us exactly what's going on with Iris."

 

**Nico**

 

He woke slowly, stretching. The bed he was resting in smelled unfamiliar, but safe all the same. So did the clothes he was wearing, and his hair felt weirdly fluffy, so of course once conscious, he was immediately on edge. Sitting up, he looked around and in an instant got a sneaking suspicion of where he was. The room was a complete mess, clothes and weaponry all over the floor. A skateboard rested against a partially open closet. The sheets were patterned with fish, as were the pajamas he was wearing.

 

A few years, or even months ago, waking up in Percy's bed would have been prime fantasy material. As it stood today, Nico was mostly interested in finding Will. He remembered he'd shadow traveled them to Percy's apartment, terrifying his mother and getting doused in milk in the process. He pulled at a strand of his hair. It smelled of strawberries. Someone must have washed it, and there was literally no scenario he could imagine that happening in that didn't make him blush madly.

 

Just as he was about to get out of bed and go explore, the door opened, and speak of his father, there was Will. When he saw that Nico was awake, he smiled and closed the door behind him before taking a few running steps and launching himself onto the covers next to the son of Hades.

 

"Hey you. Sleep all right?"

 

Nico would have answered, except the son of Apollo had leaned in close, his breath fanning across Nico's face, and as soon as he opened his mouth, they were kissing instead. Will seemed to be pretty wound up, pressing him back down into the pillow and caging him in with his elbows. They were in the process of arranging themselves so that Will wasn't crushing the son of Hades while his hand sneaked under the covers and down his side when the door banged open again.

"Aw, guys, not in my bed. Please?"

Nico immediately tried to push his boyfriend off, but the healer just whined, moving his mouth to his neck instead and making Nico gasp. Percy mumbled something about his eyes and his sheets before wandering off, leaving Nico to revel in the feeling of Will's lips traveling up his throat to nibble at his jawbone.

"What's gotten into you?" he tried to say, although another gasp escaped him when the healer found a particularly sensitive spot right beneath his ear, which seemed to please him no end.

"You smell like him," Will finally muttered discontentedly, pulling himself further on top of his boyfriend protectively. "Don't like it."

Nico rolled his eyes when his boyfriend returned his attention to Nico's ear, and hooked a leg behind the son of Apollo's knee. Before the healer had a chance to register what was happening, his own weight was being used against him to roll them over and seat Nico on top, across Will's waist.

"You're ridiculous," he told the pouting demigod, leaning down to give him another kiss on the lips.

The son of Apollo seemed pretty pleased with the newly available option of running his hands up and down Nico's sides and chest (though, like a gentleman, he kept them strictly above his overlarge shirt). They were only interrupted again when Annabeth walked in, with, unlike her boyfriend, clearly no intention of leaving them alone.

"Come on guys, it's dinner time. Not that I'm not enjoyi n g the tortured look on Percy's face at the thought of what you're up to in his bed, but Will, Nico needs to eat, remember?"

 


	16. Breakfast at the Moose Head's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get a reference to the original series, and you get a reference to the original series, and...

**Annabeth**

 

Once she managed to get Will’s healer side to override his thirsty teenager side, they ended up having quite a pleasant dinner, though Percy kept blushing and dropping his fork, which in turn led Nico to blush and knock over random items and Will to glare at the son of Poseidon, like it was his fault the son of Hades was apologizing so profusely about the spilled salad dressing. Annabeth had to be careful not to make eye contact with Sally or Paul, or she was sure they would have burst out laughing at the boys’ antics. The meal took quite a while though, between Will and Percy’s mom pushing more food onto Nico’s plate, so it was quite late by the time the daughter of Athena managed to get away to call Rachel. She seized the opportunity when Nico absolutely insisted on helping with the dishes, which led to Will helping as well and Percy to being shamed into lending their guests a hand by his mother. As the sound of splashing echoed from the kitchen (she imagined Percy was doing his hurricane in the sink thing again), she shut herself in her boyfriend’s room and settled on the bed to call the oracle.

 

Three tries later, she finally got a connection, which was better than most days.

 

“Hey, sorry, I was painting, didn’t hear the phone.”

 

“No problem, I kinda figured.” She shut the book on architecture she’d been reading while the phone rang away unheard and put it back in its place on Percy’s bedside table (where she always kept a book for just such reasons). “How are things at Clarion?”

 

“Ugh. Don’t ask. I can’t believe I’m still stuck here. _Wearing a skirt._ ”

 

Annabeth resisted a smirk. She had been pissed at having to redo her final year of high school, but at least it wasn’t because she was enrolled in some weird finishing school like her friend. She could hear a faint rustling of canvas and the dulcet tones of a random rock band on the other end of the line.

 

“Please tell me you have something interesting going on,” the oracle begged. “I’m about to stick a paintbrush through my eye here.”

 

Annabeth sighed. “We’ve been having some problems with Iris messages and phone calls lately, and we figured it might have something to do with Apollo.”

 

The rustling stopped abruptly and silence fell on the other end of the line.

 

“Rach?”

 

“Yeah. Sorry.” The sound of a deep breath came through the phone. “I guess that makes sense.”

 

Annabeth frowned at the redhead’s muteness.

 

“So, Will Solace, a son of Apollo, and Nico – you remember him – came up from camp and they were hoping to meet you to share what we all know about Apollo’s disappearance, and maybe get a prophecy for a quest to help him out?”

 

She intentionally left the last statement hanging as a question.

 

“Look, Annabeth –“ The oracle interrupted herself. “I really don’t know how to break this to you, but – “

 

The daughter of Athena leaned forward.

 

“What’s going on, Dare? Tell me.”

 

“It’s the spirit of Delphi. It’s gone.”

 

 

After that slightly nerve-wracking and at the same time reassuring statement – after all, no oracle meant no green mist meant no prophecies meant no stupid quests running all around the continent interrupting her studies again – Annabeth took a deep breath to gather herself.

 

“All right. Are you okay?”

 

Rachel groaned loudly, and Annabeth could practically feel the tension radiate through the phone.

 

“Physically? Yeah, I’m fine. Mentally? Not so much. I feel like I’m missing an arm here, you know? Like, phantom limb pain or something.”

 

“Well, actually, phantom limb pain is when you’re missing a limb, but you feel like it still – you know what? It doesn’t matter, I get what you mean. But as long as you’re not injured, this really feels like something we need to discuss face to face. Can you come into the city, like tomorrow?”

 

The mortal sighed.

 

“Sure. Meet you guys at the usual place?”

 

Annabeth smiled. “They still have that moose head?”

 

“Sure do.”

 

 

After hanging up, the daughter of Athena headed back out to the living room, where she found the boys sprawled out across the couch. When he saw her coming, Nico immediately sprang up to make room for her, which unfortunately didn’t leave much room for him until Will reached out and dragged the son of Hades onto his lap. The boy writhed and protested, but ultimately settled in against his boyfriend, making sure to elbow him in the gut in the process.

 

Watching Nico was fascinating, Annabeth reflected. He’d changed so much since the end of summer. Back then, he’d still had trouble just touching people and seemed uncomfortable being in any kind of spotlight. Now, just a few months later, he seemed so much more at ease, not just with others, but in his own skin. Annabeth credited Will with that. She’d been a little nervous about the sheer adoration the son of Apollo showered Nico with, worried it would be too much for him to handle, but clearly, it had done more than a little good. The boy probably needed the reassurance of having someone love him so unconditionally, she reflected. And as for the touching – well, she was reserving judgment on that.

 

Once she’d settled into Nico’s former spot and propped her feet up on Percy’s lap, they finally settled in with the TV, Percy flipping lazily through the channels.

 

“So how’s Rachel?” he asked somewhat too casually. She rolled her eyes to herself. Percy still seemed to think she was somehow jealous of the oracle, and granted, maybe Annabeth had projected that impression at one point. But she was over it – seriously.

 

“She’s fine. Worried about the oracle, though. She says the spirit’s MIA, which seems to tie in to the trouble Apollo’s in. We’re meeting her tomorrow to discuss it face to face.”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Will tense at the mention of his father, and Nico rub a soothing hand over his arm.

 

“Anyway,” she prompted, intentionally changing the subject. “Who’s up for a Disney movie?”

 

 

**Percy**

 

He grunted when the sunlight hit his nose, wondering why he hadn’t closed the blinds last night before going to bed. Attempting to bury his face in his pillow, he rolled over, and received a very rough reminder that he was not, in fact, in bed, but sleeping on the couch. Well, he had been, until his roll had dumped him on the floor  next to the coffee table.  Groaning, he sat up and looked around.  After watching a rerun of “The Little Mermaid” the previous evening (Nico had apparently never seen it, which was a problem in the son of Poseidon’s book), Annabeth had, despite protests all around, headed home, arguing that she needed to change, so she might as well sleep in her own bed. Will had carried a once again  passed out son of Hades to Percy’s bed, after which Percy had dragged the healer out of his room and thrown him a couple of blankets for the  air mattress Paul had gotten out for them before turning in .

 

This morning, however, the son of Apollo was nowhere to be seen, and after a quick tour of the empty bathroom and kitchen, where he grabbed an apple, he finally headed to his room again.

 

“Guys. Guys. Seriously. What are you,  connected at the hip?”

 

Nico raised an arm from where he was curled up around his boyfriend under the sheets (and Percy was NOT checking to see if they were still dressed underneath), giving him the finger. The son of Poseidon threw his apple at him in retaliation, but Will reached up and snatched it out of the air before it could hit them. Damn Apollo children.

 

“Stop being an ass, he gets nightmares,” Percy heard him mumble into the pillow as he threw the apple away and tightened his arms around the son of Hades’ small frame.

 

Percy frowned. He could imagine exactly what kind of nightmares Will was referring to. Maybe he should talk to Nico about that.

 

“Come on, we’re meeting Rachel soon.”

 

N ico groaned, burrowing deeper into Will’s chest.

 

“Aren’t you excited to find out if you have to go on a quest?”

 

Nico groaned again, more loudly.

 

Percy thought for a moment.

 

“Will, should Nico have some breakfast before we leave?”

 

Like a robot, the healer sat up and pushed back the sheets, pulling up his boyfriend with him.

 

 

 

“’Sup, guys?”

 

Nico raised his head out of his cup of hot chocolate (Will had categorically refused to let him get coffee) just long enough to blink blearily at the oracle. That kid was not a morning person.

 

“Hey, Rachel.” Annabeth was more awake, and actually stood to give her a hug, while Percy awkwardly waved. Like, he would have hugged her, but he didn’t know how that was supposed to go over with his girlfriend. In hindsight, he could have done what the son of Apollo did, reaching out to shake her hand, but maybe that would have been awkward as well, considering how long they’d known each other. Man, it really had been forever since the Hoover Dam. Percy made a mental note to try and go back there with Annabeth once. Sucky memories of skeletons aside, he knew she’d love it. They just had to avoid going by the angel statues and he was sure they’d be fine.

 

“So just to warn you,” Rachel started once she’d settled with her usual cup of whipped cream with a little coffee at the bottom. “As I told Annabeth, there are no prophecies. Nada. Zilch. Delphi is currently out of business. So if you’re here looking to go on some quest and leave me all on my lonesome with nothing but nightmares and Little Women, that’s a solid no.”

 

Nico groaned, his head still buried in his arms on the table, and Will reached out to stroke his head soothingly.

 

“That’s great. Guess we’re headed back to camp.”

 

“Not until you’re back in shape,” Will admonished.

 

“Yeah, dude, what happened, you look dead. No pun intended.”

 

Nico raised his head long enough to glare at the redhead, and Percy couldn’t resist.

 

“Well, I’d be pretty tired too if I’d stayed up half the night making out with my boyfriend in someone else’s bed.”

 

Nico snorted. “You wish,” he muttered, head sinking back into his arms.

 

“Oooh, someone jealous?” Rachel grinned at the son of Poseidon over the table, until she noticed the awkward silence that had settled.

 

“Because Annabeth won’t make out half the night in bed with him, I mean,” she corrected, and now Annabeth’s blush matched his own.

 

“Why, what am I missing here?” the oracle asked, looking between them. “Seriously, tell me. I usually just know this stuff, throw me a bone, would you?”

 

Percy sighed, rolling his eyes. “Well, Nico used to have crush on me, until he apparently decided I’m ‘not his type’ anymore.”

 

“Dude, would you stop telling people that?” Nico hissed, his head shooting up from his arms.

 

But Rachel was too busy cackling. “Well, look who finally developed some taste.”

 

“I definitely agree,” Will nodded, his hand back in Nico’s curls. The son of Hades glared at him for a moment, but Percy caught the sappy look he shot the son of Apollo in the split second before dumping his head back on his arms.

 

“Hey!” protested Percy. “You know, considering three out of the four of you at one point had a crush on me, I wouldn’t be so smug. Will’s the only one here who gets that right.”

 

There followed a silence as Nico and the girls looked down at the table grimacing… and Will also did.

 

“Will?”

 

The son of Apollo coughed. “There may have been… a couple months when I first got to camp, and you had just arrived, and defeated the minotaur and all… but I got over it fairly quickly. You know, childhood crushes. They’re awkward. And like Rachel said – he dug his hand securely back into the son of Hades’s curls when his boyfriend gave him a disturbed look – my tastes have significantly improved.”

 

Now it was Nico’s turn to smirk proudly, his cheeks tinging slightly with red as he and Will gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes.

 

Annabeth coughed, disguising what may have been a laugh.

 

“Anyway, we should probably get to the point. What’ve you got, Rach?”

 

 


	17. This is Halloween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one "today", I'm afraid. Midterms are annoying. Please enjoy this fluffy piece of filler.

**Will**

 

Rachel couldn’t add much more to what they already knew. The oracle had started malfunctioning during the summer, which at the time had been put down to the Giant War, or possibly Octavian’s massive ego causing a gravitational pull that upset the balance of the spirit. But even after the end of the war and the augur’s death, the downward spiral had continued, the prophecies long gone and even the more mundane visions eventually drying up. Clearly the deterioration was linked to Apollo’s disappearance, whether willing or not. Frankly, Will wouldn’t have put it past his father to take an extended vacation after the war and forget all about the demigods and their reliance on his quests. The god had managed to check out of Will’s life for almost ten years, after all, and even then barely acknowledged his existence beyond claiming him. Hell, he’d been head counselor of the Apollo cabin for more than a year and he still got notes from his father addressed to Lee. The healer tried not to take it personally – he knew that a few days at a music festival wasn’t exactly the kind of epic love story most of Apollo’s myths seemed to revolve around – but seeing his dead brother’s name on notes talking exclusively about what kind of sacrifices the god wanted for breakfast that day, two years after Lee’s death – well. It made it hard not to be bitter.

 

Nico seemed to sense his churning feelings, leaning back from the table to take a sip of his hot chocolate and lace his hand with Will’s. Grounding him. Reminding him of the truly important things. Who cared about his father’s opinions, or approval, or whatever? He had something so much better than anything Apollo could ever give him. He had a loving mother, an insane group of siblings, kick-ass friends, and the most amazing boyfriend anyone could ever wish for. Nico shot him a puzzled look when Will raised their intertwined hands to his mouth to give them a quick kiss.

 

“Love you,” he mouthed at the son of Hades, and watched him blush, looking away.

 

Once they’d finished their drinks and had broken out onto the street again, Rachel took her leave, claiming she needed to head out to her finishing school to finish up whatever it was one did at finishing schools. Percy and Annabeth were holding hands, and Will itched to do the same with Nico. But he sensed that the gesture, out here on the crowded streets of New York, surrounded by mortals, wouldn’t really be welcome to the son of Hades. His boyfriend had made a ton of progress around people he was familiar with. He’d barely even moved when Percy had barged in on them that morning (though granted, maybe he’d just been too sleepy), and he mostly didn’t object to hand holding and chaste kisses around other campers. But amongst a crowd of strangers?

 

“So what now?” asked the son of Poseidon. “You two heading back to camp, or are you staying another night?”

 

“We wouldn’t want to impose –“ started Nico, but Will quickly interrupted him.

 

“Actually, that would be great, Nico really should take another night to recover.”

 

His boyfriend glared at him, but Percy nodded. “Sure. Mom’ll be thrilled, she loves you guys.”

 

“All right, looks like we have the afternoon, then,” Annabeth noted. “There’s a pretty good theater near here, double date, anyone?”

 

Will glanced at Nico out of the corner of his eye. They’d technically gone on a date – the night at the fireworks, to be specific – and they’d hung out a lot at other times around the Hades cabin or the infirmary, but they hadn’t gotten around to having a date outside of camp yet. And suddenly, Will was struck with the all-consuming desire to have one, to just mingle in with the crowd of other couples like normal teenagers who didn’t fight in wars, or go on quests on the orders of green smoke ladies, and whose greatest problems were homework and curfew.

 

“How about later today,” he suggested. “We can meet up around five, see one of the shows then?”

 

Annabeth shot him a puzzled look. “Or we can just go now?”

 

“I mean, well… Austin and Kayla wanted me to pick up some Halloween decorations for the cabin,” he quickly explained. He’d actually been planning on ignoring that request because it meant more stuff for Nico to shadow travel, but it did make a good excuse.

 

Percy nodded. “Sure, I could show you a couple of good places.” And now Will had a whole different problem.

 

“Oh, that’s fine, I used to go with Lee when I was younger,” he hurriedly added. “So I can just go with Nico and you two can do… something. It’ll be safer not having two Big Three kids together around the city, right?”

 

Percy frowned. “Well, not necessarily, we’ve been together for a while al-”

 

“That’s fine, Percy and I need to head to the library,” Annabeth interrupted, and Will shot her a grateful look. She smiled at him indulgently.

 

“Great. So see you at five?” Nico was looking around edgily. He didn’t seem to feel comfortable on the crowded street.

 

Percy rolled his eyes. “Fine. See you later.”

 

As they separated and started walking in different directions, the son of Poseidon turned and yelled after them: “And don’t lose track of time making out!”

 

Nico cringed and tried to turn to yell back, but Will quickly grabbed his shoulder to steer him away.

 

 

 

“So this stuff is supposed to look scary?”

 

“Well, festive scary.”

 

“How is something festive scary?”

 

“It’s just, scary, but also fun. You know, like haunted houses?”

 

Nico frowned. “How are haunted houses fun? Or scary? They’re just places where dead people who can’t find their way to the Underworld hang out.”

 

Will looked up from the shelves of Halloween decorations they were browsing.

 

“Really? You’ve been in one?”

 

Nico shrugged. “Father used to send me to collect the spirits if they were causing too much trouble, like the poltergeists. I hate poltergeists,” he added, holding up a plastic Jack-o’-Lantern.

 

Will tried to hide his smile. “I guess for you it’s nothing special.”

 

Nico shook his head. “I don’t understand why you’d find something scary fun.”

 

Will looked at him curiously. “How about scary movies? Ever seen one of those?”

 

Nico shook his head.

 

“All right then. We could see one later with Percabeth.”

 

That caused Nico to look up. “What?”

 

“Oh. It’s just a name we use around camp to refer to couples that stick together a lot. You know, since they always do everything with each other, we just use a single name for both of them. I’m sure you’ve heard others around. Like Jiper for Jason and Piper.”

 

Nico blinked. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

Will smirked. “Wait till you hear ours then.”

 

His boyfriend looked around sharply. “What.”

 

The son of Apollo smiled innocently.

 

“Will Solace, you tell me this instant what they are calling us!”

 

The healer glanced down at the witch’s broomstick (Lou would have been horrified) he was being threatened with, then around at the rest of the shop. At three in the afternoon on a weekday it was basically deserted. Will reached out to grab his boyfriend’s wrist and tugged him into the nearest changing room, pulling the curtain shut behind them.

 

“What are you doing,” sputtered Nico. “No, seriously, tell me!” His whisper got a little hoarse when Will pressed up him against the mirror on the side of the cabin.

 

 

“Solangelo,” he whispered seductively into the son of Hades’s ear before kissing him breathlessly.

 

 

They left the shop twenty minutes later, slightly disheveled and carrying a few packets of cobwebs, some fake spiders and a massive bag of candy.

 

“Seriously though, Solangelo?” grumbled Nico, still straightening his hair. Will stared straight ahead, slightly disappointed that his expert kissing hadn’t managed to remove the thought from his boyfriend’s head.

 

 

 


	18. I'm loving it, I guess

**Nico**

 

“You know, we still have time to grab some food before meeting the others. You hungry?”

 

Nico shrugged, surreptitiously scanning the street around them for monsters.

 

“Let’s get something to eat,” Will decided for him. The son of Hades glanced over and immediately regretted it. Will’s hair was still standing up slightly at the back from where he’d run his hands through it back in the dressing room of the Halloween shop. The cool air had tinted his cheeks slightly red, and his lips were chapped. He looked absolutely edible, and Nico had to fight a blush. He forcefully moved his attention back to the people surrounding them, shrugging.

 

“Sure, whatever.”

 

Will smiled, bumping his shoulder.

 

“Hey, you can relax for a minute you know. I can keep an eye out as well.”

 

Nico nodded, but didn’t let his guard down. Force of habit.

 

“So where do you want to go? Any particular cravings?”

 

He shrugged again. “Whatever.”

 

Will sighed. “Fine. How about that restaurant, that looks good. Or we could grab some sandwiches at that shop, maybe eat them outside. Or…”

 

He paused when he noticed what Nico was looking at.

 

“Oh no. No way. Do you have _any_ idea how unhealthy that is? No, I’m putting my foot down.”

 

Nico nodded, turning away. “Okay.”

 

The son of Apollo promptly stomped his foot, running a hand through his hair.

 

“Gods, the things you do to me. Fine, we can go.”

 

 

Still slightly puzzled, but pleased nevertheless, Nico followed as Will led the way into the McDonald’s.

 

 

 

“Tastes good, doesn’t it.” He smirked when the son of Apollo scowled at him around his chicken burger.

 

“I can practically feel my arteries clogging up,” the healer told him, dragging a couple of fries through the ketchup pool on the tray between them and stuffing them in his mouth. Nico rolled his eyes, looking around the brightly lit shop instead.

 

“I remember coming to these places to get happy meals to raise the dead,” he reminisced. “I tried out different stuff, and they liked those the best. Especially the toys.” He propped his own tiny stuffed whatever that thing was supposed to be – it looked like a yellow bean in overalls with one big eye – against his soda. The teenager at the till had raised an eyebrow when he’d ordered the happy meal, but he liked the boxes, the way everything was neatly tucked away, the smaller portions. He remembered when he and Bianca had first come to D.C. with Alecto after being pulled out of the Lotus Hotel. She’d given them money for lunch before putting them on a bus up to the military school. Bianca had scolded him for spilling soda on his shirt. They’d both gotten Mythomagic figurines, the first ones Nico had collected. Bianca had given him hers. He couldn’t remember which one it had been. Aphrodite, maybe?

 

W ill tapped his hand. “Hey. You okay? You’ve got kind of a weird look on your face.”

 

Nico quickly wiped a napkin over his mouth.

 

“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking.”

 

“Oh, so it’s not the food. Though I guess it figures that the undead would like this stuff. Didn’t they used to use animal blood for those rituals?”

 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, they’d slit the animal’s throat and pour the blood into a bowl on the altar. Then they got to eat the rest of the animal. Minos always complained that that would have been good enough, but I didn’t really want to buy a pig every time I tried doing it.”

 

Will raised an eyebrow. “That does sound a little bit suspicious,” he commented lightly. “But why  di d you try happy meals?”

 

Nico smiled slightly. “I liked them. I figured the dead would too. And I got to eat the leftovers.”  He dropped his voice. “And since I kept trying to summon Bianca, and I knew that she liked them… I thought, maybe, they would help lure her in.”

 

His boyfriend frowned,  moving his hand towards Nico’s, who automatically stiffened. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy holding Will’s hand, on the contrary, he loved how warm and grounding it was. But  they were in a  _very_ public place, and the last thing Nico wanted to do was draw  _any_ sort of attention to them.  Luckily, the son of Apollo seemed to understand, drawing his hand back. Nico tried smiling apologetically.

 

“I’m sorry, it’s…”

 

“I know. It’s fine.”

 

Glancing around, Nico drew a breath, steeling himself. Then he sneaked out a foot and gently prodded around with the tip until he brushed up against Will’s. The healer relaxed again, smiling, and Nico felt the other foot nudge back.

 

“So Bianca liked happy meals, huh?”

 

“Yeah. I mean, she probably liked other stuff, but I just can’t remember what. She always complained at Westover about the food, like the pasta. Said it wasn’t cooked right, even though she couldn’t describe what it should have been like, because of the Lethe.”

 

T he son of Apollo frowned again. “ You mean you don’t remember any of the food you had as a kid either?”

 

Nico shook his head. “Not really. It’s more like this impression. Like if you’d dreamed something, and you’re trying to remember, but it keeps slipping away.

 

Will looked conflicted. “But then… what does your ambrosia taste like? Everyone always says it tastes like their favorite childhood meal, something they had for comfort.”

 

Nico shrugged. “Tastes like hamburgers and fries to me.”

 

Will gaped at him, and Nico smirked.  Until Will finally remembered to close his mouth and leaned over, stealing one of his fries. “Well then. Guess I should feel honored that this is what we’d having for our first date.”

 

 

 

** Percy **

 

They arrived at the theater a few minutes early, so they already stood in line for the tickets. Percy wasn’t really interested in the historical fiction movie – he’d had enough of History trying to kill him for a few years, thank you very much, and dying of boredom wasn’t any more humane than getting killed by various long dead historical figures – that, and he’d once already made the mistake of sitting through a historically inaccurate film with his lovely girlfriend who would  _snarl_ at any mistakes or non-fact-based flourishes – but he’d been outvoted three to one. Against Annabeth because she like  _intellectual_ movies instead of just some flashy fun. Against Will, who wanted to see the song-and-dance routines his siblings had apparently been raving about. And against  _Nico_ , the traitor, because apparently nowadays, he basically did whatever Will wanted him to do. And maybe because, since it occurred before his time in the Lotus, he’d actually understand it, Percy grudgingly admitted. But mostly because Will had wanted him to.

 

His point wasn’t really disputed by the couple arriving late with Will’s hair standing up in a way that clearly indicated someone else had been running their hands through it. Percy should know, his looked exactly the same after his make-out sessions with Annabeth. Oh, and now Percy was picturing the two of them making out. Lovely.

 

“You two get lost on the way?” he quipped to take his mind off of the image. Not because it was particularly repulsive, or anything, quite the contrary. Wait. Where had that thought come from?

 

Will smirked at him and Nico gave him the finger.

 

 

Once they’d settled into their seats and the movie had started, Percy tried to concentrate, he really did. Unfortunately, between Annabeth’s adorable little snarls getting progressively louder as the film progressed, and presumably became more inaccurate, and Will not so subtly trying to sneak his arm around Nico’s shoulders using the old “yawn” trick, it was kind of difficult. So much that by the time he’d run out of popcorn, he would have given anything for a distraction.

 

Well. Almost anything.

 

 

The girls walked in late, edging their way along to the empty seats next to Percy, and he wanted to warn the others, but then he saw the first one’s face, and was instantly captivated. The way the light from the screen reflected off her skin, highlighting her features, her red lips. He distantly felt alarm bells ringing in his head as he leaned in over the armrest, part of his brain telling him to get Annabeth to do something other than mutter at the film’s inaccurate portrayal of the main character, but another part insisting that this was fine, there was nothing to be worried about. 

 

The sound faded into the background, and their lips were about to touch, when suddenly the girl jerked, a bronze blade protruding from her shoulder.

 

“Not my boyfriend, bitch,” snarled Annabeth, this time with real anger as the empousa dissolved on the end of her knife.

 

F rom there, hell pretty much broke loose. The few other mortals in the theater screamed and ran for the exit, something about a shooter. The other empousai roared and transformed, vaulting over the seats to the other demigods. Nico met them head on, black sword drawn and swinging gracefully through the air as he fought back to back with Annabeth. But Will was having a little more trouble. He’d drawn a bow and quiver of arrows out of gods knew where, but one of the empousai had caught him in a staring match and he’d lowered the weapon, transfixed as she approached. Percy cursed, drawing Riptide. He knew that as the most susceptible to the empousai’s powers, he, and Will apparently, should probably stay out of the fight and lay low, but glancing over at his girlfriend and the son of Hades, who it seemed had no problem with the charmspeak, he realized they were fully occupied. He quickly climbed onto the backs of the folding chairs and ran over, thanking the gods for Chiron’s obstacle course training, to tackle the son of Apollo out of the way of another empousa who’d taken advantage of his immobility to sneak up on him.  They went toppling out of the way, rolling under several rows of seats. Will immediately struggled to get up, but Percy pinned him down.

 

“Don’t. We’re better off out of the way, those things have too much power over us,” he hissed.

 

“But Nico –“ 

 

“Will be fine,” Percy interrupted quietly, pressing his other hand over the healer’s mouth when he started to protest. “Trust me, they’ve got nothing on him, without him having to worry about you being in danger, they’ll be a piece of cake for him to handle, all right?”

 

T he son of Apollo nodded, eyes wide.  They both waited silently, listening to the sounds of the fight. At one point one of the seats seemed to catch fire from the monster ladies’ flaming hair, which in turn set off the alarm system, dousing them all in cold water. From there, the fight was pretty much over. One of the empousai got thrown over several rows of seats and landed on the floor next to the two boys, allowing the son of Poseidon to reach out a hand and wrap chains of water around her arms and legs. Nico ran over and stabbed her through the chest until she dissolved, the dust mixing in with the  puddles forming on the floor.

 

“That the last one?” Percy asked, sitting up. 

 

“Yep,” called Annabeth, walking over to join them. “Nice one getting out of the way this time, Seaweed Brain. You’re getting better at this.”

 

Nico was still looking down at them oddly, and Percy realized he was basically straddling the son of Apollo. He quickly stood up and backed away, allowing the son of Hades to pull his boyfriend up. Nico still threw him a suspicious glance though, brushing the front of Will’s coat affectionately.

 

“You okay?” he asked, the concern evident in his voice.

 

“Yeah,” breathed the healer. “You?” He ran his hands down Nico’s arms as well, looking him over.

 

“I’m fine,” the son of Hades groaned. “Stop worrying.”

 

As they kissed, Percy leaned over to Annabeth. “So sweet. Remember when we were like that after fights?”

 

His girlfriend punched him in the shoulder. “You idiot. I can’t believe you almost kissed an empousa during our double date.”

 

Percy rubbed his shoulder, grinning affectionately.

 

“Yeah, me neither.” 

 

 

 

 


	19. Author has run out of plot and is now substituting it for pointless angst and fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the title says

**Will**

 

They eventually found their way out of the theater, ducking through an emergency exit and slipping down an alley as firefighters swarmed the scene. Not that there was much of a fire to put out anymore, Percy had gathered the water from the sprinklers in one big wave and doused the still burning seats before they’d left. Because apparently everyone was intent on making Will feel particularly useless today. He folded his unused bow and quiver back into the magical backpack he’d brought on the trip, freeing his hands so he could scale the wall at the end of the alley more easily. Annabeth was already at the top, calculating the best way back to Percy’s place, her boyfriend right behind her. Even as she dropped down on the other side, Nico took a running start and practically flew up the bricks, like the stone was giving him a hand up to the top. From the dumpster he was standing on, the healer could look up and see the two sons of the Big Three highlighted against the late afternoon sky. Beautiful, strong and powerful, out of reach of mere demigods like Will. Heroes.

 

“You coming?” Nico glanced down at him, brushing his dark curls out of his eyes impatiently. He was due for a haircut again soon, Will noted absently. Not that he minded having something to run his fingers through, the son of Hades had hair like silk.

 

“Yeah.” He shook himself out of his stupor. Now was not the time. Seriously, he got ensnared by an empousa and ten minutes later he couldn’t even climb a wall on his own? Irritatedly, he took a running leap, misjudged the distance and ended up almost face-planting on the top of the wall if it hadn’t been for Percy and Nico grabbing him by the arms and shoulder.

 

“Are you okay?” Nico asked worriedly.

 

“I’m fine,” Will brushed off curtly, trying not to turn red with embarrassment. Of course he didn’t miss the hurt in Nico’s eyes at his tone, or Percy’s warning look.

 

“Sorry,” he amended, shouldering his way past and jumping down to join Annabeth.

 

 

He avoided talking to the others all the way back to the apartment, walking a little behind them, ignoring his boyfriend when they fell in step with each other. He knew he was being petty, but he couldn’t seem to help it. The feeling of uselessness was seeping through him, slowly turning to resentment. But once they’d returned and Nico was in the shower washing off the monster dust, and Percy was hunting through the kitchen for snacks, he finally got cornered by the daughter of Athena.

 

“What.” He tried to hold up the dry shirt he was changing into like a shield, but to Annabeth’s knowing look, it might as well have been see-through.

 

“You’re feeling a little insecure right now. Don’t worry,” she continued as he sputtered. “We all do at some point, fighting alongside the Big Three. You think I never felt useless when Thalia just electrocuted all the monsters in one go, or Percy washed them away with a wave of his hand?”

 

Will shook his head, pulling the shirt on. “That’s different. You’re a good fighter, you could hold your own. I can’t even keep my own bloody patients safe in my own infirmary.”

 

“Patients who wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you,” she interjected.

 

“You saw me today,” Will replied dejectedly, sitting on the couch. “I would’ve been gutted by a D-list monster if it wasn’t for Percy, and he was just as affected as me.”

 

Annabeth snorted. “You missed the part where one of them almost ate his face off, then.”

 

Will shook his head again. “But even if it wasn’t Empousai. I’m not a fighter, I can’t keep anyone safe. And with Apollo off who knows where, it’s anyone’s guess how long I get to keep my healing powers. The oracle’s already not working anymore, what if healing is next? And if I can’t fight, and can’t heal, what good am I?”

 

Annabeth sat down next to him, rubbing his arm. “Well, you’re an okay shot. And your singing is pretty terrifying.”

 

“Thanks,” he answered sarcastically. He sighed. “But come on. Nico… he’s spent his entire life having to fight, he should have someone who can do it for him. Not the other way round. I can’t keep him safe.” The healer looked down at his hands. “He’ll figure that out eventually,” he added more quietly. “He’ll find someone. Someone as powerful as him, someone who can protect him. Just… not me.”

 

“Well, Percy’s taken, I ldon’t think Thalia’s his type either, and even if Jason might be interested, I think Piper would take issue with that.”

 

Will groaned, leaning backwards and closing his eyes. “And now that image is in my head. Thanks a lot.”

 

She smiled, patting his leg.

 

“Well, I’m glad we had this chat. Nico, you get all that?”

 

Will sat bolt upright, eyes wide.

 

Nico was standing in the doorway of the bathroom. His hair was wet and curling at the edges, Percy’s clothes hung off his thin frame, and he generally looked like a million bucks. And he also looked hurt. Open, and fragile and wounded, and when he stormed away into Percy’s room, Will scrambled to his feet, running after him.

 

“Nico –“

 

“Don’t. Don’t you dare. How could you, how could you think that, that –“ the son of Hades attempted to show the door shut in Will’s face, and the healer quickly braced himself against it, trying to keep it open.

 

“Babe, please – “

 

He looked around desperately.

 

“A little help?” he called to Annabeth, who hadn’t moved from the couch and was flipping disinterestedly through a magazine.

 

“The key to a healthy relationship is communication,” she called over her shoulder. Will cursed at her just as Percy came back into the room with a bowl of chips.

 

“Please don’t break my bedroom door,” he called to them, settling in next to his girlfriend. “I still need it for when Annabeth comes over.” The daughter of Athena wacked him on the back of the head.

 

When the wood gave an alarming creak, Nico’s guest manners apparently kicked in and he stopped trying to shut the healer out, retreating further into the room instead. Will quickly slipped inside and closed the door.

 

“Nico, please, sweetheart, I am so sorry.”

 

“Why? Why are you sorry, Will?” the son of Hades yelled. “Because you keep telling me that my powers aren’t important to you, but you think yours are what matter to me? Because you’re so sure I’m going to break up with you? Because you want me to hook up with fucking Jason?”

 

Apparently beyond words, he grabbed the pillows and plushies off the bed and started pelting Will with them.

 

“All of it,” Will tried to say, dodging a flying fish and trying to get closer. “I’m sorry, I really am. It’s just… “

 

“What, Will? What? You really think I’m that shallow? What, you think I don’t love you? You really think so little of me? Yeah, I’m just the son of Hades, right? Not like I could love anybody.”

 

At those last words, the fight seemed to drain out of the son of Hades. He half-heartedly threw another stuffed Dory and it hit Will right in the chest.

 

“No, baby, of course not.” Will’s throat was closing up and there were suddenly tears on his cheeks. What was he doing?

 

“I didn’t mean it. I was just tired, and frustrated, and I felt useless. I needed to vent. But I promise, I didn’t mean any of it.”

 

Nico sighed, turning away. “Don’t lie to me, Solace. You did think all those things.”

 

Will took a tentative step closer.

 

“All right, fine, maybe I did. And maybe sometimes you think I’m going to break up with you, or that you’re not good enough.”

 

Nico turned to glare at him. “Yeah, but I’m not supposed to be the well-adjusted one. And you always read me the riot act when I start thinking like that, so where do you get off thinking it’s okay for you?”

 

Will shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a hypocrite.”

 

His boyfriend glared some more, reaching across the bed to grab the front of his shirt.

 

“Yeah, you are.”

 

 

Their kiss this time was different. Nico was still angry, Will could tell by the way he bit his lip and aggressively pulled at his hair. But man. He needed to make his boyfriend angry more often. His skin burned like fire wherever he came into contact with the son of Hades, and that was a _lot_ of places. For once, Nico didn’t seem to be holding back as much, he was more careless, his knees almost hitting Will in the gut as he climbed all over him, wrestling him down. Will was more than happy to give up the fight. Anything to make his boyfriend not mad at him, and to keep this fire thing going. He felt his back hit the pillow and then he was being pushed into it, his hands held down at his sides. He whined when Nico suddenly pulled back from his lips, and distributed his weight on top of him to prevent him from surging up and recapturing their kiss.

 

“Look at me, Will,” his boyfriend told him, deadly serious, face inches away. “Do I look like I need someone to take care of me?”

 

And in that moment, Will really knew, the answer was a definite no. His love looked positively feral, coiled on top of him, all lean muscle and power.

 

“Answer me,” Nico hissed when the healer didn’t answer fast enough. “Do you really think I want to date someone else? If they were better with a sword? Hm?”

 

Will had to muffle a groan. “Oh gods, one of these days I’m going to have to explain innuendo to you, baby,  and  yeah, I know you’re an amazing fighter. I  _know_ that. But – “

 

Nico surged down to kiss him. “No buts,” he muttered angrily. “I  _love_ you. I don’t care if you can’t heal, or routinely get stabbed at sword practice.”

 

Will groaned again, and Nico frowned furiously.

 

“Forget about it,” the son of Apollo told him. “I’m sorry, and I won’t do it again, now can we _please_ make out?”

 

Nico rolled his eyes, but responded just as enthusiastically when their lips connected again.

 

 

 

A good while later, as they lay curled together on Percy’s fish comforter, Nico leaned back over, flicking Will’s chin  with his finger .

 

“So, next time you get your head stuck up your ass, could you come to me, maybe, and not have me find out via child of Athena’s manipulation?”

 

Will nodded, pressing a kiss to his nose. “Of course. She really played me there, didn’t she.”

 

Nico smirked, before his expression turned suspicious.

 

“By the way, what did she mean about Jason being interested?”

 

 


	20. The only one who prays to leave this world before you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Mother's day, everyone! Call your moms if you can.

**Nico**

 

He sat bolt upright, his heart pounding. The room was dark apart from a faint sliver of light shining under the door, making Percy’s stuff loom ominously out of the darkness. Blindly reaching out, Nico patted his hand across the bed until it made contact with something warm. Last night after dinner with the Jacksons, Will had apparently given up all pretense and simply followed him to bed. He was laying on his stomach, face buried in a pillow (the son of Hades had no idea how he was still breathing), his presence a soothing balm to Nico’s nerves. For a moment, he considered curling back up against his boyfriend’s side and trying to get back to sleep (or, you know, staring at the ceiling until morning came), but then his bladder informed him that he needed to go to the bathroom first. Slipping out from under the warm blankets regretfully, he padded to the door, only stubbing his toe once on… something.

 

Once he’d relieved himself in the small bathroom, he was going to go back to Will, but a light from the kitchen drew his attention. He was conflicted for a moment about spying on his hosts, but curiosity finally won out, and he moved silently to peek through the doorway.

 

“Hey,” Percy greeted him quietly. The son of Poseidon was sitting on one of the counter tops, eating directly from the massive carton of ice cream in his lap. “Nightmares?”

 

Nico nodded. “All the time.”

 

Percy shrugged, holding out the carton. “Ice cream?”

 

Nico examined the content. “What flavor?”

 

Percy narrowed his eyes at the box. “Nuts. I think. My mom had a craving apparently.”

 

Nico rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

 

As he took the spoon and dug out some of the goopy sweetness, Percy cleared his throat.

 

“So. Um. You want to talk about it?”

 

Nico huffed. “Not much to talk about. I mean, you’ve been there. You know what it’s like.”

 

Percy shook his head. “Sure.”

 

They ate in silence for a while, passing the spoon back and forth, until the son of Poseidon looked up hesitantly.

 

“So, can I ask you something?”

 

Nico shrugged, swallowing a cold lump of ice cream.

 

“What?”

 

“Why’d you go?”

 

Nico raised an eyebrow, holding up the spoon.

 

“I mean, I know you got sucked in and all, but you would’ve had to get close enough for that to happen in the first place. And you of all people knew how dangerous it was, especially going alone. So why did you do it?”

 

The son of Hades looked down, running a finger through the condensation on the side of the container.

 

“Dunno. I just figured, you know. I was used to fighting alone, and, and, being miserable, I guess. I figured I could handle it.” He snorted. “Famous last words.”

 

Percy shook his head. “Man. And Annabeth thinks I’m overconfident.”

 

“For some things, yeah,” Nico conceded. “For others...”

 

“Ah, ah, ah, don’t let Will hear you now,” his cousin joked.

 

“Such a hypocrite,” Nico groaned, shaking his head.

 

“Hey, you know what you should do?” Percy suggested.

 

Nico looked at him suspiciously.

 

“Aw, come on, I don’t _always_ have bad ideas,” the son of Poseidon protested.

 

“Don’t let Annabeth hear you say _that_ ,” Nico noted.

 

Percy shoved his arm, but the son of Hades grabbed on to the ice cream container, taking it with him as he stumbled back into a kitchen chair.

 

“Hey, come back here,” the other demigod laughed, jumping off the counter to come after him with the spoon. “No, seriously. Back when I first came to camp, and my control over my powers sucked, Annabeth sometimes helped me with sword training. Way back before we knew Kronos was rising.” The son of Poseidon got a dopey look on his face. “Good times. Anyway, you should do that with Will. That way, he won’t feel so insecure about his fighting.”

 

Nico considered, trying to grab the spoon from Percy, who kept pulling it back. “I don’t know. Every time I talk about sword practice around him, he turned red for some reason.”

 

The son of Poseidon suddenly coughed and sputtered, spewing half-melted ice cream all over the carton.

 

“Gross!” yelled Nico, shoving the carton and attached demigod away.

 

Percy finally managed to catch his breath, wiping his mouth on his shirt. Nico resolutely kept his eyes off the other boy’s toned stomach.

 

“Sorry, I just –“ he coughed again, clearing his throat.

 

“Okay, seriously, what’s going on? What is it about "sword practice" that makes you all react like this?” Nico glared at him.

 

“It’s nothing,” his cousin reassured him. “Just choked.” He cleared his throat again.

 

Nico glared some more. “I’m going to figure it out, you know.”

 

Percy nodded. “Yeah, probably. But I’m pretty sure Will would remove my intestines if he caught me talking about sex stuff with you, so you know.”

 

Nico felt himself blush scarlet. “Oh.”

 

The son of Poseidon nodded. “Yep.”

 

He paused for a moment before continuing. “So I feel like on the one hand, it’s not really my place, but on the other it’s sort of my responsibility, so um… you guys haven’t done it yet, have you?”

 

“Oh my gods, Percy, I will gut you,” Nico hissed, mortified.

 

“Well, you know it’s natural? It’s okay to talk about. But like, not do. Not until you’re ready. And I mean, like, really ready, not just that Will – “

 

Nico jumped out of his chair. “I am _not_ having this conversation again.

 

Percy shrugged. “It’s been handled? Good. More ice cream?”

 

He held out the spit-stained container. Nico gave him a disgusted look.

 

“Good night, Percy.”

 

 

Back in the son of Poseidon’s room, he sighed in relief when he noticed his boyfriend was still fast asleep, already feeling the tension seeping out of him. He climbed into bed and was trying to figure out how closely he could curl to steal the son of Apollo’s warmth without waking him, when the arm he was rearranging shifted.

 

“Hey, babe,” Will muttered groggily, hands snaking around his waist to pull him in. “You okay?”

 

Nico nodded, gingerly resting his ear below his boyfriend's collarbone. “Yeah, just a bathroom trip.” Will nodded, running a hand through his hair to encourage him to lay down his head.

 

“You’re cold,” he mumbled, angling Nico’s head so he could peck him lips. He frowned sleepily. “Taste like nuts.”

 

Nico tensed. “Go to sleep, sleepyhead.”

 

Will nodded. “’Kay. Love you.”

 

Nico stayed awake awhile longer as his boyfriend drifted off again, staring unseeingly at the wall. Finally, he shifted to press a kiss to Will’s lips.

 

"Love you too."

 

 

**Will**

 

He could hear Percy and Nico bickering over the breakfast table as he knocked softly on the door to the future nursery.

 

“Oh, Will, come on in.”

 

“Hey Mrs Jackson. How’s that wall coming?”

 

Percy’s mom lowered the paintbrush, examining the area she’d been touching up critically.

 

“Please, call me Sally. And tell me, are we tempting the fates, putting in clouds? I wouldn’t want to offend Zeus.”

 

The son of Apollo stepped over, tilting his head from side to side. “I don’t think he’d care, to be honest, he’s not known for spending a lot of time in nurseries, you know? That’s his wife’s thing. Maybe you could draw a cow, or something, for her?”

 

Percy’s mom smiled, holding up a stuffed calf from the stack of toys piled in the crib at the center of the room. “Already taken care of. Annabeth’s looking out for us.”

 

“Doesn’t Annabeth have a long-standing feud with Hera?”

 

Sally shrugged. “She's a smart girl, she doesn’t let her personal feelings get in the way.”

 

Will frowned, the image of the daughter of Athena punching Percy at the ceremony to burn his shroud after he’d returned from Calypso’s island, clearly not dead, flashing through his mind.

 

“Sure.”

 

“So is everything all right?”

 

He quickly cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah, everything’s fine, thank you so much for letting us stay here, we really appreciate it.”

 

“Oh, it’s no trouble, dear, you two are welcome any time, you know that,” she beamed. “Except maybe right around the time when the baby comes, we’re probably going to be sleep-deprived and messed up then.”

 

Will nodded, smiling. “Of course. No offense, but I delivered a baby once, and I swore to myself after that, that I wouldn’t come within arm’s reach of a woman in labor ever again.” He grimaced at the thought, his wrist still aching where Mellie had grabbed him while screaming into his ear in agony.

 

Sally nodded understandingly, before hesitating.

 

“Still… I was wondering… since you’re a son of Apollo and a healer and all…”

 

“Well, technically, Hera is the goddess of all things pregnancy, but there was a little cross-over with Apollo, since there were midwives who were highly trained enough to be considered physicians, so,” he hovered his hand above her stomach. “May I?”

 

She pulled up her shirt. “Please.”

 

He took a calming breath as he pushed his healing senses out like feelers, searching. When he felt the heartbeat start to echo through his palms, the rush of liquid, he closed his eyes, deepening the search, pushing further.

 

Finally, he opened his eyes again, looking up at Mrs Jackson’s worried eyes.

 

“She’s fine. She’s perfectly healthy.”

 

The expectant mother gave a radiant smile of relief.

 

“Thank you, Will,” she murmured, pulling him into a hug. It was warm and safe, and Will was suddenly struck with home sickness for his own mom. Which reminded him.

 

“Hey, do you think you could do something for me?”

 

“Of course, what is it?”

 

He pulled the envelope he’d brought from camp out of his back pocket.

 

“Um, I usually call my mom every week, but since communications are down, I haven’t been able to reach her. Which is, you know, not terrible, because she’s not really a calendar kind of person, so she might not notice for a while, but when she does, I don’t want her to be worried.”

 

He handed over the envelope. “I was hoping you might have better luck reaching her than me, since you’re mortal. Could you mail this? Once we’re gone, maybe, and the interference is removed?”

 

Sally looked up at him, her eyes heavy with memories. She gently took the letter out of his hands.

 

“Of course, Will. I’ve been there with Percy, believe me, she’s going to want this. To know you’re okay.”

 

Will nodded, his throat suddenly feeling a little tight.

 

“And, uh.” He reached into his other back pocket and held out a paper bag, stuffed to the brim with thick envelopes.

 

“While you’re at it, could you maybe mail these too? They’re from the other kids at camp. The ones whose mortal parent, or family, or whatever is still alive, I mean.”

 

Sally smiled, taking the pack as well.

 

“Tell you what, why don’t you give me everyone’s names and a general location if you can, and I’ll see if I can track them down and call or email them. Just in case.”

 

Will nodded, and Sally pulled him back into a hug. At her smell of paint and lotion, he suddenly felt so much more relaxed, kind of like he imagined people felt when he used his calming aura on them. It was nice. Pretty soon his eyes were welling up, and he hugged tighter.

 

“I miss her,” he mumbled.

 

“I know, sweetheart,” she crooned. “She misses you too. She loves you, I know that.”

 

 

 

“Okay, but are you sure you’re ready?”

 

His boyfriend rolled his eyes. “Yes, Will. We’ve been through this. Twice.”

 

“You know, if you’re not sure, we can always drop you off,” Percy’s mom interjected.

 

“Oh, it’s fine, Will’s just being a worrywart.”

 

“Because I care about you.”

 

“Because you’re a butthead.”

 

“Oh, that’s charming, darling.”

 

“Would you _please_ stop with the pet names and the rhyming.”

 

“Don’t worry, Solace, you’ll wear him down eventually. _Sweetie_.”

 

Annabeth and Sally both reached over to whack Percy on the back of the head.

 

“Don’t interfere in another couple’s bickering, Percy,” his mother chided.

 

“ _Anyway._ ”

 

They went around the circle, giving out hugs. Even Nico seemed relatively comfortable when Sally held him as close as she could given her baby bump and kissed his forehead. His boyfriend moved on quickly from Percy though, which didn’t bother Will, or Percy apparently, since the demigod just smirked and flicked his temple, causing Nico to shove him into the wall. Annabeth high-fived him.

 

Sally gave Will another hug and she kissed his cheek, since he was too tall for her to reach his forehead.

 

“Don’t worry about your mom or the others, I’ll give them all a call, okay?”

 

Will hugged back gratefully.

 

Nico shouldered the backpack with the Halloween decorations, which were still slightly damp from the theater fire. “Time to go, we don’t want the others getting worried.”

 

Will nodded tersely, shouldering his own pack and putting his hands on Nico’s shoulders. They were standing in Percy’s closet, Percabeth and Sally crowded around the entrance to help block some of the light and deepen the shadows.

 

“Okay, all set?”

 

Will nodded, steeling himself for the shadow travel.

 

"Time to go home."

 

 

 


	21. Hey Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of a change in my schedule, from now on, updates will be moved to Saturday. If this is a problem for you, don't worry, you can still read it on Sunday.

**Austin**

 

The reason he was sitting in the supply closet was that he was busy doing inventory – specifically, reading through a waist-high pile of Rolling Stone magazines he’d found in the back under one of the shelves. It had nothing to do with the fact that, with Will in New York, he and Kayla were the only two healers available should something happen to one of the other campers, and that the two of them would bear the sole responsibility of that person’s life. No back up. No safety net. No Will stepping in to gently touch his shoulder to calm him down and take the scalpel out of his hand and finish the procedure for him if his hands shook too much. Just him. Oh gods.

 

The sound of the infirmary doors broke him out o his thoughts and he flinched. Oh gods. What was he going to do ?

 

“Austin?”

 

Oh, thank the gods. He scrambled to his feet, stumbling out of the closet with one of the magazines still clutched in his fist. Will was striding down the main room, Nico passed out unconscious in his arms.

 

“Welcome back. I was just doing – ” He gestured at the supply closet, the magazine fluttering in his grasp.

 

“Nineteen eighties Rolling Stone, huh? Stop reading that trash and get me some Gatorade, would you?” Will gently lowered his boyfriend onto one of the beds.

 

“Hey, I for one think that ignoring hip hop was a _great_ idea,” the son of Apollo  quipped, quickly throwing the copy down on the desk as he rounded it. “There’s no way that type of music would ever catch on, right?” He pulled open the fridge and got out a bottle of blueberry energy drink, the son of Hades’ favorite flavor. 

 

“What can I say, there’s a reason we use those magazines as insulation in the supply closet. Thanks.”

 

H is brother accepted the bottle and pulled off the seal, working the nub between his boyfriend’s lips. Austin leaned against the bedside table, watching.

 

“So how was New York?”

 

Will shrugged.

 

“Fine. Met up with the oracle, got some Halloween decorations, almost made out with an empousa.”

 

“Sounds like fun.”

 

“Hmhm.”

 

“So what did Rachel say? Any word on dad?”

 

The head healer paused, shoulders slumping.

 

“No. Rachel says the oracle’s just… gone.”

 

Austin paused for a moment, blanking. Oh no. This was bad, this was really bad, what had happened to their dad, surely if the oracle was gone, something must have happened? He wanted to freak out, he really did. But looking up a Will, he knew he couldn’t. His older brother was always there for him, had been all through the wars, he couldn’t just dump more stress on him. He wanted to be helpful for once.

 

So instead, he gathered himself and whistled. “Well that can’t be good.”

 

His brother huffed, sliding his hand gently under Nico’s head and resuming the force-feeding.

 

“No, probably not.”

 

He put down the bottle and clapped his younger brother on the shoulder.

 

“But hey, not the first time we’ve had oracle trouble. You weren’t here yet, but there was actually a time when Chiron banned all quests and cut off our access to her.”

 

“That was back when she was a zombie though, right? Because of Hades’ curse?”

 

Will nodded, smiling. “Exactly. It wasn’t exactly fun visiting her, I can tell you.”

 

Austin smiled. “Yeah, I remember my first summer here, when Annabeth had her quest. She looked freaked out when she came back from the attic. And I’m pretty sure it wasn’t because of the cobwebs up there.”

 

Will gave a bark of laughter. “True. The Athena kids do not like their spiders.”

 

The musician leaned back against Nico’s bed, starting to untie the laces on their patient’s sneakers.

 

“So what happened last time? How did you get access to the oracle again?”

 

His brother snorted, moving around the bed to undo his  boyfriend’s other shoe.

 

“What do you think happened? Percy Jackson, that’s what happened.”

 

Austin paused with the shoe in hand. Nico seriously needed some new socks. Great, now he had an idea for his Christmas present, at least.

 

“Oh.”

 

The head counselor hummed.

 

“Hmhm.”

 

“So… did Percy have any ideas?” This was perfect. If Percy could just go out and save the world again, Will wouldn’t have to leave, and Austin wouldn’t be alone on his infirmary shifts anymore.

 

Will sighed, looking over the shoe he was holding.

 

“You know we can’t ask that of him again,” he said quietly. He turned and brushed a hand through Nico’s bangs. “Not of any of them. They’ve already gone through too much. Walk with me.” He tilted his head towards the desk and Austin hurried around the bed to fall in step with him.

 

“You know Nico’s problems with shadow travel?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Will looked back over his shoulder at his boyfriend, as if checking he was still asleep.

 

“Well, from a physical point of view, there’s nothing to explain them. He’s healthier right now than he’s been at any point in the past three years. He’s sleeping more, he’s eating enough, and he’s not running himself ragged. The darkness in his aura is all but gone. There really isn’t any reason for him to keep passing out after every time he does it.”

 

“You said from a physical point of view.”

 

Will nodded, unzipping the backpack he’d been carrying.

 

“So you think he’s got a mental block, or something?”

 

“It’s the only explanation I can think of. I’m pretty sure he’s not doing it on purpose, he gets so frustrated every time he has trouble with his powers. But subconsciously? The mind works in mysterious ways.”

 

“Yeah, but… making him pass out every time he uses his powers? That’s pretty extreme.”

 

Will shrugged. “It’s not unusual. People pass out at the sight of needles, or blood, or the Beatles. It might make sense actually. His mind’s gotten used to shadow travel being linked to danger and exhaustion. It’s just trying to protect him.” He sighed, pausing in his unpacking to look across the infirmary.

 

“It’s not going to be easy to tell him, though. He’s got a very “thirties” view of mental health issues.”

 

“What, asylums and lobotomies?”

 

“Pretty much. I’m probably going to try and round up some movies on the subject, ease him into acceptance before I spring this on him.”

 

Austin nodded. “Sure. I’ll queue up the Inside Out, see if anyone else is interested in having a sobfest.”

 

“Catharsis, Austin. Even the ancient Greek knew a good cry once in a while was healthy.”

 

Austin nodded, turning over the bag of spiderwebs Will had handed him.

 

“Why is this wet?”

 

“Long story. But seriously though.” His brother clapped a hand on his shoulder, leaning over him, which wasn’t easy, since Austin’s last growth spurt had him almost at his brother’s height. “You all right?”

 

“Sure.” Austin couldn’t quite meet his head counselor’s eyes.

 

The hand on his shoulder squeezed and the son of Apollo felt himself relax, warmth trickling into his stomach like nectar.

 

“Seriously dude, one of these days, you have to teach me how you do that.”

 

Will smiled, rolling his eyes.

 

“I know it’s not going to be easy, with dad missing and stuff, but I promise you, it’s going to be okay. Yeah?”

 

Austin nodded again, suddenly blinking away tears.

 

“Come here.” He let himself be pulled into a hug.

 

“We missed you,” the younger son of Apollo admitted.

 

 

**Nico**

 

Waking up was like trying to fight his way out of cotton candy. His mouth even tasted like cotton candy. He swallowed to wet his mouth and, oh. He knew that flavor.

 

Groaning, he rolled on his side, only to be met with Will’s soft grin.

 

“Hey there. Welcome back.”

 

“What time is it?”

 

Will shrugged, glancing out the window. “Thirteen minutes past twelve. Just in time for lunch.”

 

Nico nodded, sitting up slowly. He had a killer headache.

 

“What day?”

 

Will grimaced. “It’s… Tuesday.”

 

Nico groaned again, letting himself fall back onto the pillow.

 

“I lost _another_ day?”

 

“Hey, still better than three. And you did pretty good in New York, it was probably just the exhaustion of multiple jumps that knocked you out this time.”

 

The son of Hades scowled, looking up at the ceiling.

 

“Argh, what’s happening to me, Will? I used to be able to do this so easily. Multiple jumps was never a problem before, I did them every day for a _week_ with a giant _statue_ strapped to my back _and_ a satyr and praetor in tow.”

 

Will nervously folded his hands, licking his lips.

 

Nico narrowed his eyes at him.

 

“You have an idea, don’t you?”

 

The son of Apollo hesitated.

 

“Well… have you considered, maybe…”

 

“Maybe what?”

 

“Maybe… Athena was helping you transport the statue?”

 

Nico considered. “Maybe,” he agreed reluctantly. “But I still should be able to do it with just one other person.”

 

Will waved a hand vaguely in his direction. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out. I have a couple of other theories, I just need to do a little more research.”

 

Was his boyfriend acting just a little too casually, Nico wondered, frowning. But with a headache that felt like Athena pounding against the inside of his head, he decided to drop it, instead accepting the bottle of Gatorade he was being offered.

 

“So lunch then? Everyone will be happy to see you again.”

 

Nico felt himself smile around the bottle. Strangely, he felt like Will might probably be telling the truth. He did feel like people at camp liked him. It was a nice feeling.

 

“Okay, but can I have some pain medication for my head, because I don’t think I’ll survive Austin talking my ear off with this headache.”

 

Will smirked, taking the bottle away.

 

“Sure thing, babe.”

 

Nico was ready when his boyfriend leaned in for a kiss, deepening it just for a moment as he felt healing energy sweep through him and wash away the pain in his temple.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone doesn't know and is wondering, "Catharsis" (from the Greek word "katharsis", meaning "purgation" or "purification") is when you purge your emotions through art, for example by watching a horror movie, or listening to sad songs. Or reading/writing a disgustingly sappy piece of fanfiction. Originally used by Aristotle (yes, the Aristotle) to describe the effect of watching a tragedy at the theater.


	22. Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, full disclosure: I have never seen the Shining, only read it. More than scary enough for me.  
> So if anyone here braver than me has comments on the description of the movie, let me know.

**Will**

 

The room was dark and comfortably warm. Demigods were sprawled across mattresses throughout the Hermes cabin, a hand reaching out for more candy here or there. Cobwebs adorned the ceiling and a couple of pumpkins the Demeter cabin had regretfully offered up for sacrifice sat in the corner with toothy grins. On the old TV Connor and and Julia had set up, Jack Nicholson was lumbering around looking for a drink.

 

Will glanced across at Nico. His boyfriend was sprawled out next to him, a bowl of pretzels on his stomach, the content of which he was absentmindedly shoveling into his mouth, his eyes never leaving the screen. He didn’t appear to be visibly frightened, which was more than could be said about the son of Apollo.

 

Trying not to draw attention to himself, Will hunkered down further, pulling his blanket up to his eyes. On the other side of the room, he could see Austin in a similar position, except he was routinely being poked by Alice and Nyssa, who thought his little jumps were hilarious. Will was glad he had Kayla next to him. The only time she moved was to clutch at his arm.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Will shifted his gaze back to his boyfriend. Nico was regarding him curiously, completely unfazed at the ghost bartender on screen.

 

The son of Apollo cleared his throat.

 

“Um, yeah. Just… cold.”

 

Nico frowned. “You’re like a furnace, you never get cold.”

 

The violins made a particularly strident sound and Kayla gave a little whimper next to him. Nico shifted his gaze to her, perplexed.

 

“Are you scared?”

 

“… No”

 

There was another violin screech and Will flinched, trying not to sink further down into his blanket. Kayla had apparently given up and buried her face in his shoulder. Glancing between the two of them and the screen, the son of Hades made a confused sound before scooting over and pulling at the blanket. Will was going to resist, ready to fight for his shield, but Nico merely tugged up the end so he could slip underneath, kicking Will’s leg and jostling him in the process before wrapping a cool hand around the son of Apollo’s. Will gave him a grateful smile, then an apologetic one as the soundtrack of the movie once again started acting up and he squeezed it a little too hard. The other demigod gave him a pained smile in return.

 

“I hate manias too,” he muttered in Will’s ear at the appearance of one of the ghosts. “Such a pain to deal with, they all feel _sooo_ misunderstood.”

 

Will snickered in spite of himself before Kayla shushed him, feeling a little bit better about having to sit through two hours of trying not to shriek.

 

 

They were about to end the movie when suddenly, a scream echoed through the night. Everyone in the room flinched, then rolled their eyes.

 

“Very funny, Connor,” glared Nyssa, trying to pry Harley’s hands off of her arm.

 

“Um… that wasn’t me,” Connor replied, looking confused.

 

“Right. The same way it wasn’t you who stuffed my showerhead full of fake spiders this morning," Malcolm scowled. Valentina patted his hand affectionately.

 

“Well, actually that was Alice and Julia,” Connor muttered as his younger sisters high-fived.

 

As another scream echoed around the room, Nico stood up, despite Will trying to cling on to his arm. Chiara smirked at him from across the room and he stuck his tongue out at her. 

 

“Shouldn’t we go check it out?” his boyfriend asked, looking around the room.

 

“Oh please, it’s just someone’s lame prank, don’t bother,” Laurel sighed, trying to get a better view of the TV around him.

 

“Yeah, Death Boy. Not that I don’t enjoy the way the screen highlights your ass, and all, but seriously, sit down. Screaming outside on Halloween is like the oldest prank in the book,” Valentina explained, not even looking in his direction as she plaited some sort of bioluminescent plant into Billie’s hair.

 

“Hey, stop checking out my boyfriend’s ass,” Will protested half-heartedly, glad of the distraction from Jack Nicholson running around with an ax.

 

“But it’s sooo nice,” Holly chimed in, smirking knowingly.

 

“Seriously guys, shouldn’t we check out what’s going on?” Nico had started backing into the wall, like he was trying to get his butt out of the center of the conversation, but he didn’t seem ready to drop it.

 

“Relax, sweetie, it’s just someone trying to spook us,” Miranda told him reassuringly.

 

“But we’re all here, right?”

 

There was a moment’s pause as everyone did a quick mental headcount. Then Nyssa leaned over and threw a pillow in the direction of the Hermes children.

 

“Did you guys plant a tape recorder or something?”

 

“I swear we didn’t,” Connor argued, throwing it back. “It wasn’t us, swear on the Styx.”

 

Thunder rumbled and just then there were a series of yells by a different voice.

 

“Is that… Woodrow?” Billie asked, hesitantly standing up. Her head was glowing like a lamp from the plant Valentina had braided in.

 

“I thought he was out on searcher duty, bringing in a new demigod?” Damian asked.

 

There was another moment of silence, before the entire cabin burst into motion, demigods everywhere grabbing the nearest weapons and charging out the door.

 

 

 

** Sherman **

 

The fight wasn’t going well, the son of Ares assessed grimly as he charged up the hill, sword drawn and pajamas whipping in the wind. What had that stupid satyr been thinking, trying to bring in a new demigod all by himself on Halloween of all nights. Sherman might have been tempted to leave the idiot to the pack of Telkhines that had surrounded him and the new kid, but he’d had his eye on Miranda Gardiner for a while now, and the daughter of Demeter had a ridiculous affection for nature spirits. So letting one die, even a stupid one, maybe wasn’t a great idea right before asking her out. Instead, he let out a yell and charged further up the hill, drawing ahead of the others.

 

Of course by the time he got there, Austin and Malcolm, as well as the Nike girls and the son of Hades had out-paced him (well, Death Boy had actually just shadow traveled, and Laurel had already called him out for cheating). What could he say, long distance running was for pansies. He got to the group just in time to stab one of the last dog monsters through the back as it stumbled away from di Angelo’s wicked Stygian iron sword.

 

“Yeah!” he roared. “Come at me! What, you scared?”

 

“Fight’s over, Sherm,” Austin muttered as he shrugged past, holstering his bow. The son of Apollo knelt next to the new kid, who had metal amounts of blood on his shirt. “How’s he doing?”

 

Woodrow was shaking, and kept bleating between words, which made him hard to understand.

 

“They got him in the gut, I think. I’m _blehehe_ sorry, I tried, I thought, _blehehe,_ since Halloween is Celtic, the Greek monsters would leave us alone tonight, and he’s _blehehe_ just a minor demigod. I’m such _blehehe_ an idiot, I should have _blehehe_ called for back-up.”

 

“It’s okay, Woodrow, you did good.” Will Solace shouldered his way through the crowd clutching his medical bag. He clapped the satyr on the shoulder as he knelt next to the injured and his presence seemed to calm the nature spirit down.

 

“Sorry, Will, I just freaked out there a moment, it’s been a long trip. All the way from Brazil, do you have any idea how hard it is to get through the border these days?”

 

Miranda sat next to him, pulling him into her arms, and Sherman felt a sting of jealousy watching them.

 

“It’s okay, Woodrow, we get it. But you’re safe now. We just need to patch up the new kid. What can you tell us about him?”

 

 

 

** Kayla **

 

“Paolo _Montes_ , fifteen years old all the way here from Brazil, a son of Hebe and an absolute _dreamboat_.”

 

Kayla proudly handed over the finished report to Will.

 

“Still too old for you,” muttered her brother, glancing over at their patient. He’d woken up a few minutes after having nectar poured down his throat and three of the guys had had to hold him down to keep him from thrashing while Will finished healing the wound in his gut. After being carried to the infirmary, he’d finally calmed down and was now looking around the room with a mild expression and zero comprehension whatsoever. Which Kayla had been the first to discover when she’d snatched the opportunity to get the gorgeous new camper’s medical file together. Take that, Valentina!

 

“Oh, come on, it’s only like three years," she protested.

  
“Exactly. Looks like his intestines are all on their way to recovery,” the head healer noted, pulling the covers off their patient’s bandaged stomach.  Paolo simply smiled. Kayla was getting the idea he might not be the sharpest arrow in the quiver. Excellent. Cute and dumb, just like she liked’em. 

“That’s the great thing about Hebe kids, such fast healers, even without ambrosia. I should probably give him a full body check-up later though, make sure I didn’t miss anything.” 

 

“Seriously? You already have a boyfriend, come on, Will, let me do it.”

 

Her brother just looked at her, unimpressed. “Is that why you volunteered to  do his file?”

 

“He also doesn’t speak a word of English, and my Spanish is way better than yours,” she felt obligated to point out.

 

Will scoffed. “That is not even remotely true, I am from Texas. You’re from, like, Canada.”

 

“And my Spanish is still better than yours, how does that even happen?” she teased. 

 

“Besides, why are we arguing about Spanish, Brazilian people speak Portuguese,” her brother shot back.

 

“Yeah, but Portuguese is almost the same as Spanish. Sort of.”

 

“No, it’s not.”

 

“In written form it is.”

 

“And that is helpful how?”

 

Kayla held up the pad and paper she’d been using to communicate with young Ricky Martin. If Ricky Martin was Brazilian. Will rolled his eyes and grabbed the pad from her, jotting something down before handing it to their patient. Paolo accepted it, still smiling, but frowned when he saw the note. He grimaced and shook his head, muttering what sounded like an apology.

 

“I think he’s having trouble reading your penmanship,” Kayla translated gleefully. Will glared, shoving the pad back at her.

 

“Well ask him if he’s in any pain anywhere, would you?” he groaned.

 

She just pointed higher up on the pad. “Already did, he said not at the moment,” she replied smugly. “So you agree I should be there for his check-up, right?”

She let her eyes rake up and down their patient’s body, before glancing up and catching her brother’s disbelieving gaze.

 

“What? It’s not like he can understand us.”

 

 

** Nico **

 

Will let himself fall next to him on the infirmary bed with a loud groan. Without a word, Nico reached over to rub his shoulder.

 

“Hey, you. Feeling all right? Not dizzy or anything?”

 

“Nope.” Nico let the last letter pop. After shadow-traveling up the hill to get to the fight faster, he’d had a bit of a moment of weakness, but thankfully, the adrenaline of the fight had helped it pass, then holding down the new kid so he didn’t hurt Will while the son of Apollo healed him.

 

“That’s good,” muttered the healer, sitting up to take a closer look at his left pupil, holding his eyelid open. His boyfriend himself didn’t look too good. His eyes were bloodshot and he’d downed half the bottle of Gatorade he’d brought Nico himself. The healing had apparently taken a lot out of him.

 

“So how about you, are you okay?” the son of Hades asked hesitantly.

 

“I’m fine,” Will reassured him, letting go of his eyelid and rubbing his shoulder before yawning widely. “Just haven’t done anything big like that with my powers in quite a while. Eight hours of sleep and I’ll be good as new.”

 

He hunkered down next to Nico on the bed he’d been confined to by Chiara after she’d caught him stumbling, even though he’d insisted it was just a tree root. She’d merely rolled her eyes and explained to him in extensive detail how the butterfly effect worked in health as she frog-marched him to the infirmary behind the guys lugging their newest camper down into the valley. Nico couldn’t really bring himself to be mad though, since Will had apparently decided where he was spending his eight hours. They hadn’t been able to share a bed since their return to camp, and the son of Hades missed having someone warm to hold onto when his nightmares woke him.

 

“So how’s the new kid doing?” he asked, glancing across the room at the bed where the guy was sleeping.

 

“He’ll be okay,” Will yawned, stretching and wrapping his arms around Nico’s waist. “Right now, the biggest danger is him getting ripped to pieces by all the straight girls and gay guys at camp, he’s that hot.”

 

Nico felt a weird sensation in his stomach, like a tightening, even as Will closed his eyes, sighing deeply into the pillow, apparently read for sleep.

 

“You think he’s attractive?”

 

“Um, yeah. Because he is. Like if William Levy was younger, and tanner, and Brazilian.”

 

“You know I have no idea who that is.”

 

“Don’t worry, next time one of my siblings has a break-up, they’ll be binge-watching telenovelas, you’ll find out then. In the meantime, can we go to sleep?” 

 

Nico shrugged, the feeling still not going away, and Will  stilled for a moment before opening his eyes again. He  sighed, unwrapping one of his arms from Nico’s waist to grab his chin.

 

“Neither of them are as hot as my boyfriend though.”

 

Nico rolled his eyes, jerking away, but he couldn’t quite hide a smile, and Will seemed to know it. He propped his head on Nico’s chest, waiting for him to turn his head back,  so that when the son of Hades finally did, he could peck a soft kiss to his lips.  


 

"Now go to sleep," he breathed. 

 

Nico held back a smile and did as he was told.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, never ever assume a person can't understand what you're saying just because you're speaking a different language. Especially if it's English.


	23. Country Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Murphy's Law: if something can go wrong, it will. The official motto of anal control-freaks with half-empty glasses everywhere.

**Cecil**

 

“Come on, come on, come on… yes!”

 

Cecil sat up and did a celebratory dance in the truck seat when the GPS screen flickered.

 

“Oh yeah, try to keep me from my friends, I’m going to show you just why they call me Murphy’s Law. In your face, unknown generic evil force trying to mess with me!”

 

There was a thump outside the cabin and the demigod quickly ducked down, hiding from sight. It couldn’t have been the trucker whose vehicle the son of Hermes was hiring (ahem, stowing away on) to bring him back to camp. The man had spent eight hours downing coffee after coffee, his bathroom break should have lasted at least five minutes. Which was twice as long as Cecil needed to reprogram his GPS to make a little detour to a certain strawberry farm outside New York. Surely the man wouldn’t mind, it was only about twelve hours out of his way.

 

Okay, fine, maybe Cecil did feel a little guilty about messing with the guy (they’d developed quite a bond when his chauffeur had decided to start singing ABBA songs aloud so movingly that the son of Hermes had decided to tape him from his hiding spot in case he needed to prank the Apollo cabin at some point). But desperate times called for desperate measures. He had to know what was going on, why he wasn’t able to contact camp anymore. The thought of another Giant War-sized smack down, and his friends left alone and with their forces depleted had been haunting him for weeks. He’d had fight after fight about it with his grandmother (his mom was still somewhere in Idaho, drawbacks of being a traveling saleswoman) about going back to New York to check on them. He’d pissed off more than half his teachers at school, was this close to suspension anyway. His gut told him this was as good a time as any to skip town, make his way back before it got too cold out. So he’d packed a bag, written his grandmother a note, sent his mom a text and picked the lock to the back of the moving van that just happened to stop at a traffic light near his house (thanks, dad). Four days and two run-ins with a couple of Cyclops traveling the same way he was (including a rather nasty fight that ended with him shoving some family’s hideous flowered couch off a bridge with the Cyclops still on top of it) he had made it to some random gas station in the state of New York. Next stop: Camp Half-Blood. If he managed to stay hidden, that was.

 

Crouching down low to avoid being seen, he waited, unmoving, listening intently. It was at times like this that his fine ear, tuned by years of lock-picking, really came in handy.

 

The sound of scratching and muttered curses reached him from the other side of the door he was leaning against. The voice was strangely familiar. He frowned, concentrating, itching to slide up and peek through the window. Compromising instead, he inched up until he could catch a glimpse into the rear-view mirror. And let out a sigh of relief, yanking open the door of the truck cabin.

 

Ellis Wakefield gave a yelp, backing up quickly, before heaving a sigh of relief. He was holding a very bent paper clip, the son of Hermes noted.

 

“Markowitz. What are you doing here, I thought you lived in Ohio.”

 

Cecil glanced around, mentally counting in his head. Four minutes and twenty-two seconds, they needed to get out of sight. He grabbed his backpack from the bench and jumped out of the truck, setting the lock from the inside of the door before quietly shutting it, then took the son of Ares by the arm and hustled him to the back of the container truck.

 

“Here, get in,” he muttered, pulling on the latch he’d shattered two states ago when he’d climbed on. Luckily, Ellis didn’t protest, merely shoving his own bag on board before squeezing through the opening and into the container. Cecil glanced around and caught a glimpse of their driver ambling back with a bottle of coke in hand. Uttering a quiet curse, the son of Hermes gave the other demigod a harsh push in the back and quickly slipped in after him, closing the flap behind him again.

 

“Dude, what the hell, quit shoving me,” Ellis stage-whispered, still sounding much too loud for Cecil’s taste. The demigod shushed him, holding up a finger.

 

Finally, there was a groan from the motors and the truck rumbled to life. Sighing, the son of Hermes let himself fall back on a pile of packages stacked against the side of the truck.

 

“Just preventing us from getting caught, Wakefield. You’re welcome, by the way. Is this your first stow-away or what?”

 

The son of Ares shrugged, sitting down on a bed of cardboard boxes. He was behaving oddly non-confrontational, Cecil noted.

 

“Actually, yeah, it is. Usually, my step-dad drops me off at camp, but he got deployed a couple months ago.”

 

Cecil winced. “That sucks, man, I’m sorry.”

 

The son of Ares shrugged. “Eh, I’m used to it, mom’s still out, if they get lucky they might even end up together somewhere. Dad might help out with that, they were always on good terms.”

 

“But what are you going here? Don’t you go to some psycho military boarding school?”

 

Ellis looked sheepish. “I might have told one or two professors to go shove an assault rifle up… there. And maybe broken a couple of rules. Started a fight club. Or three. And pitted them against each other.”

 

Cecil couldn’t hold back a smirk. “I rewired my school’s entire PA system till it played nothing but recordings taken from the faculty bathroom to the soundtrack of the Inception movie. You know, the one with the foghorns?”

 

Ellis chuckled. “I remember when you did that to the Aphrodite cabin. Man, were they pissed.”

 

“Yeah, I had pink eyeshadow on for weeks after that.”

 

He chuckled, then sighed. “So you decided to bail?”

 

Ellis nodded. “I got worried. None of my Iris messages or calls have been going through and my emails don’t get answered.”

 

“Yeah, same here. How’d you make it this far?”

 

“Hitch-hiked, mostly. I’m big enough to pass for a college kid taking a year off to travel. I just figured for this last bit, there probably wouldn’t be anyone going out to the middle of nowhere, so stealing a truck it was.”

 

“Actually, the middle of nowhere is in Iowa, not New York. This is more like the north-east side of nowhere. And how were you planning on starting the truck anyway? You can’t do that with a paper clip, my friend. Or pick a lock for that matter.”

 

“Well, we can’t all be sneaky little thieves. I just had a feeling about this truck, you know. What with the inscription, and all. I mean, the amazons are our friends now, right?”

 

Cecil nodded. “Our driver is one of those jumpsuit guys. You know, the ones they keep as trophy husbands, or whatever?”

 

Ellis frowned. “Weird. Though I can understand the attraction, I guess. Those women are _fierce._

 

The son of Hermes considered. “Eh, I guess it is pretty hot. Anyway, I rewired the GPS, so if he doesn’t notice that he’s driving into the north-east side of nowhere, we should be at camp in about five hours. You wanna take the first shift? You look pretty tired.”

 

The son of Ares stretched out on the boxes, sighing. “Sure. Hitchhiking doesn’t really give you a lot of safe opportunities to sleep, even when you’re a fighter as awesome as I am. Wouldn’t want to end up getting trafficked.”

 

Cecil nodded. “No, you would not. I’ll wake you when we get there, or if something happens, all right?”

 

Ellis nodded before opening his eyes suspiciously. “No drawing on my face while I’m asleep, Markowitz.”

 

The son of Hermes raised his hands innocently. “Wouldn’t dream of it. No seriously, how about an inter-cabin truce until we get to camp? I don’t prank you, and you don’t stab me until Will is around to heal me.”

 

Ellis considered. “Fine, truce.” He closed his eyes, and Cecil thought he had gone to sleep when he opened them again.

 

“For what it’s worth, Markowitz… I’m happy I ran into you.”

 

Cecil smiled. “Yeah, me too, Wakefield. Me too.”

 

 

**Ellis**

 

“Wake up… wake up… wakey wakey… ”

 

“Cecil, what the… oh, no.”

 

Cracking his eyes open, the son of Ares found himself staring into the one eye of a grinning cyclops with the worst oral hygiene he’d ever met, and that was saying something, because he’d shared a bathroom with Clarisse La Rue. He tried to draw his sword, only to find that his arms and legs were bound with zip ties. Snarling with rage, he glanced around the back of the truck and noticed Cecil in a similar position, eyes wide and a thin line of blood tracing down from a cut on his forehead. His arms were being held by two more of the monsters.

 

“Seriously, Markowitz. I’m sorry, but you suck at watch.”

 

“It’s not my fault someone decided to order a bunch of cyclops online. Who does that? You don’t ship tranquilized cyclops, you put a post on ebay about a broken refrigerator and you wait for them to show up at your door.”

 

“Tranquilized? Then why in Hades did they wake up? Unless. Markowitz. No. Tell me you were not stupid enough to go through the boxes.”

 

“Well, you never know what you’re going to find, do you know how much electronics will go for in the Hephaestus cabin? Pranks aren’t cheap, you know?”

 

“So you’re literally selling stuff off the back of a truck? And of course you had to open the Cyclops boxes, and wake them up. This is why we call you Murphy’s Law, you idiot, we are going to get eaten because of your stupid little greedy –“

 

“Enough!” roared the cyclops on Cecil’s left, apparently tired of being ignored.

 

“Excuse me,” Ellis spat in its face, too angry and worked up to be particularly frightened. “We are trying to have a conversation here, because I want my idiot friend to know that this is all his fault, that this would never have happened if he had just kept – “

 

“-- my fingers to myself? If I’d done that, we wouldn’t be – “ the son of Hermes twisted around, trying to catch a glimpse of the watch on his wrist – “only two minutes out from camp, now, would we.”

 

“Wait, wha? Camp?” the cyclops holding up Ellis asked, confusedly looking between them.

 

There was suddenly a shadow passing through the room.

 

“Yeah, Camp Half-Blood. Welcome. Sucks to be you.”

 

Nico di Angelo pushed off from the wall of the truck he’d been leaning against, casually drawing his sword. Bad Breath dropped the son of Ares to heft a club instead, and the monsters holding Cecil tossed him on top of the other demigod and advanced on the new threat as well, but before they had a chance to reach him, there was a roar as the truck doors were kicked in.

 

“Sherm!” Ellis yelled, relieved to see his brother at the head of the group of demigods charging in to encircles the cyclopes.

 

“Hey, little bro!” the Ares head counselor yelled back, grinning as he swung two blades at once at the packets being thrown his way. “Long time no see! Just give me a second here.”

 

His brother went whirling away in the narrow space, and behind him Will ducked in, dodging flying boxes and clubs as he made his way over to the bound demigods.

 

“Hey, are you guys okay?” the healer yelled over the noise.

 

“Fine, just get us loose!” the son of Hermes yelled back.

 

“Yeah, and get Bony here off of me,” Ellis added. Will rolled his eyes, pulling out a scalpel.

 

“I want to see you both in the infirmary later for a check-up,” he lectured, sawing at the zip ties on Ellis’ ankles. “Especially you, Cecil, that cut looks nasty.”

 

“Whatever,” the son of Ares told him, rubbing his wrists when they were finally freed. “Thanks for the assist, Solace. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go restore some of my pride that Bony here lost me with his sucky look-out skills.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to sincerely thank @ValarMorghulis for reminding me of the existence of Cecil Markowitz. I admit it, I had completely forgotten that he existed. Him and Ellis. Consider this my apology/patch-up fix-it, because I'm not ready to give up the ridiculous farce of this work being canon-compliant.


	24. Candy Crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not Saturday anymore, you tell me? Yeah, sorry. My bad.

**Cecil**

 

“What a waste,” he muttered, tugging at the cracked plastic cover of the tablet until it came off. Inside, the electronics fumed and sparked. When he noticed that the battery had started leaking fluid from a gap that looked suspiciously like something Nico’s sword would leave he gave up, dumping the whole ruined thing into the cabin’s recycling container for the Hephaestus cabin to take apart.

 

After the cyclops had been ruthlessly exterminated via sword and cardboard packaging, and a little mist had convinced the trucker that no, his cargo had not been invaded by a runaway teenage medieval theater troupe and he’d been sent on his merry way, still whistling “Dancing Queen” in a way that had Austin begging them to use the mist to erase the song from the man’s memory, the demigods had effectively been left standing on the deserted country road with all the packages that had been damaged during the fight. Which was a surprising number. Cecil had been excited at first at the thought of all the contraband he’d be able to salvage, but it was quickly becoming clear that salvage was in this case an endangered species.

 

“Hey, Cecil, look, I got this one working. Oh. Wait. No. No, no, no. Take cover!” His sister Alice threw the phone she’d been holding in the direction of the cabin door and ducked down behind her work table. When the device hit the floor, there was a loud bang. Followed by smoke. And flames. Connor threw off the pillow he’d pulled over his head and leaped across the room to grab the fire extinguisher they kept in the corner of the Hermes cabin for just this purpose.

 

“You know, when I said to take it easy, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” a voice drawled from the door.

 

“Will, hey, come on in” Cecil grinned. His best friend suspiciously examined the still smoking phone, currently being hosed off by Connor and Alice, like he thought it was going to blow up again, before inching his way past.

 

“You still owe me an infirmary check-up,” the son of Apollo lectured, opening one of the windows to help air out the smoke.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll get around to it,” Cecil dismissed.

 

“Yeah you will. Right this minute, in fact, this isn’t a courtesy call.” Will reached out and grabbed his shoulders, steering the son of Hermes back towards the door.

 

“Oh, come on, I’ve got time.”

 

“Nope. Now.”

 

“Connor –“

 

“Yeah, Cecil, you probably should go.”

 

“Traitor! Alice, remember to save that speaker with the ax marks for Harley’s Christmas present, he can totally use it in his homing beacon –“

 

“Don’t worry, just take it easy, Cecil, okay?” he sister called back as the door slammed shut behind them. The demigod squinted in the sudden November sun.

 

“Seriously, why are you all so worried, I’m fine.”

 

“Cecil. That was Julia back in there. Not Alice.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Exactly. Now come on.” The healer started tugging him back in direction of the infirmary. “You can keep Nico company. Maybe he can teach you how to be a better patient, he’s had lots of practice.”

 

“If by better patient you mean making out with you, I have some bad news, Will. I mean, I know I’m hot, and all, but –“

 

“Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I’d rather make out with Lou Ellen.” Will let go of his arms long enough to shove open the doors to his sanctus sanctorum.

 

“Ouch. Why must you wound me so, bro?” Cecil asked, dramatically sinking against the outside wall of the building.

 

“Are you okay?” Will immediately asked him, concerned.

 

“No, I’m not okay, my best friend would rather switch teams than kiss me,” the son of Hermes joked, pushing off the wall and promptly stumbling as a wave of dizziness came over him. “On the other hand… ”

 

Will clucked impatiently, sweeping the other demigod’s arm over his shoulders to keep him upright.

 

“Honestly, you’re worse than Nico, come here.”

 

“Can we talk about the fact that you’ve mentioned your boyfriend twice between here and the Hermes cabin? This is not healthy, Free Willy.”

 

“Don’t call me that, it doesn’t sound PG at all and I will never know why anyone thought it was an appropriate title for a children’s movie.” The son of Apollo dumped him unceremoniously on an infirmary bed, right opposite the one currently occupied by Nico the Angelo eating twizzlers.

 

“Can I have twizzlers?” Cecil immediately asked, sitting up.

 

“Nope. These are the last of my stash from Halloween. Get your own candy, Markowitz.”

 

“Can’t, I spent Halloween grounded for getting all my neighbor’s mail forwarded to a library in the Philippines.”

 

“Well that’s oddly specific.” Will tipped his head back and pulled at his eyelid, blasting it with a penlight. “Looks like someone has a concussion,” he commented. “Although I’m not sure if it’s from this morning, or something you’ve been up to since.” The healer glared at him suspiciously. “Anyway, that means no candy until I can be sure you’re not going to throw up red goop all over my clean, sterile floors.” He pushed Cecil down onto his back and left for his desk.

 

 

“So.” The son of Hermes stretched out, crossing his legs on the nice, clean white sheets. Sure beat the back of a truck. “What are you in for?”

 

The son of Hades shrugged, still munching on the liquorice. “To reassure Will, mostly. He freaks out every time I shadow travel.”

 

“You mean I freak out every time you pass out after you shadow travel,” the healer corrected, returning with a fresh clipboard from his desk. Cecil was about eighty-two percent sure that those just magically grew in the infirmary desk drawers. His friend veered off from his trajectory to the son of Hermes’ bed to squeeze Nico’s ankle, and the son of Hades gave him a look somewhere between a grimace and a sappy smile.

 

“Never mind about the candy, I’m going to get a cavity just from looking at you,” the son of Hermes groaned.

 

He felt a slight tinge of regret when Nico’s face immediately dropped and he pulled his ankle from Will’s grasp, but since the healer was turning away, he didn’t seem to notice.

 

“Hey, play nice. Or you’re only getting vegetables for dinner.”

 

“Wait, I have to stay here for dinner?”

 

His best friend looked at him like he’d turned into Janus.

 

“You heard me when I said concussion, right? Which means tonight I get to stay up and wake you every few hours. Yay.”

 

“Aw, come on, can’t Connor do it?”

 

Will shot him a withering look, fixing the clipboard to the end of the bed. “The same Connor who I just saw showing a twelve year old hose down an exploding phone?”

 

Cecil winced. “Point taken.”

 

 

Right then there was a cough at the door. There was a guy standing there Cecil didn’t know, a guy who… wow. Cecil was pretty sure he was one hundred percent straight, but this guy…

 

“Paolo!”

 

Will grinned brightly, gesturing at the teenager to come closer. Behind him, the son of Hermes saw Nico scowl.

 

“Cecil, this is Paolo, son of Hebe. He doesn’t speak English.”

 

The last fact in particular seemed to make Will particularly excited.

 

“Uhm… Hi.”

 

Will enthusiastically pointed at him, speaking loudly and slowly at their guest.

 

“Ce-cil.”

 

The so-called Paolo gave an uncertain smile and waved at him. The son of Hermes awkwardly waved back.

 

“Now if you’ll excuse us, I need to check on _Paolo_ ’s stomach wound.”

 

“For the third time in two day,” Nico muttered under his breath, though the healer didn’t seem to hear him as he tugged the son of Hebe towards the examination room by the arm.

 

As soon as the door shut behind them, the son of Hades rolled off his bed, grimacing in disgust, and Cecil watched as he stormed out of the infirmary, feeling rather helpless.


	25. Girls Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the late hour. It's the end of Pride week in my home city, meaning I'm exhausted, hungover and apparently forget important agreements, like the one we have. For the same reason, my typing may be a bit off, please point out any spelling mistakes or massive plot holes. Thank you. Love you guys.

**Miranda**

 

“You know, there’s probably something to be said for being a child of the goddess of agriculture,” Chiara mused. The two demigoddesses were sitting at the Demeter table for lunch, along with Miranda’s sister Billie.

 

“It may not be the most exciting field. You may not have fancy, flashy powers, or be all that great at fighting.”

 

Billie swallowed her mouthful of cheese sandwich. “Are you going somewhere with this?”

 

Chiara shrugged. “You guys have structure. You’re stable. Year in, year out, always the same comforting routine. Must be nice.”

 

Miranda smirked. “It can be. What’s the latest hot off the presses?”

 

Chiara glanced around before gesturing conspiratorially for the sisters to lean in. Pulling out her phone, she put it on the center of the table between their heads, pulling up the video gallery.

 

“I just happened to be passing by the archery range this morning, and I caught...this.”

 

The video was remarkably stable considering it was clearly shot from behind the shed where they stored the extra bows and quivers. Miranda expected to see some horrible accident – perhaps another case of arrow to eyeball, or arrow to foot, or the always entertaining arrow to behind. Those always seemed to be happening “accidentally”. But to her surprise, she saw something quite different.

 

“Turn the volume up,” she requested. The daughter of Tyche complied, and the sound of Valentina Diaz cursing fluently at Will Solace in Spanish filtered through to them. Miranda’s Spanish was pretty good, since it was basically the modern language of farming in the US, but some of the words the daughter of Aphrodite seemed to be using were not really what you’d hear on the farm. And was that French mixed in? But she understood enough to get the gist.

 

“Are you kidding? There’s like twenty people at camp, where’s Will going to find someone to cheat with?”

 

“Yeah, I can’t even get one guy to like me,” Billie pouted, looking pointedly around the pavilion. “At least Miranda’s got Sherman.”

 

The daughter of Demeter blushed when Chiara looked up at her excitedly.

 

“Oh really? And how is that going?”

 

She tugged a lock of hair nervously around her finger, glancing over at the Ares table, where Sherm was having a knife fight with his brother Ellis.

 

“It’s nice,” she finally answered. “We’re taking things a little slowly, you know? There’s no real rush and with most of the Aphrodite girls gone, I really feel like I can relax and just enjoy the moment.”

 

“Aw,” cooed the daughter of Tyche. “Rolled around in the hay yet?”

 

“Chiara!” yelped Miranda, smacking the older girl on the arm as Billie smothered her laughter in her sleeve.

 

“What? Isn’t that something you Demeter girls do? Get all down and dirty? Like bunnies?”

 

“No! Who even says that?” The Demeter head counselor glanced around to make sure no one had heard. How embarrassing would that be? She knew how fast the rumor mill worked around here. “That’s just like saying… like you Tyche kids getting lucky.”

 

“And _do_ we _ever_ ,” Chiara completed smugly. “You will never guess where Damian White has a tattoo, by the way.”

 

“Nice,” Billie smirked, and the daughter of Tyche high-fived her. “That’s another rumor you can definitely spread, ladies.”

 

Miranda fixed the both of them with a weary glare. She knew that as head counselor, she should probably be doing something about this corrupting of her younger sister’s innocence, but seriously. It was exhausting. Billie was like a magnet for every dirty-minded gossip at camp. She practically had her own chair at the Aphrodite table. And that was just one person right now. How Katie had coped with their entire cabin summer after summer on top of the wars? Miranda had no idea. Figured that for all they were so similar in name and appearance that even year-rounders mixed them up, this would be the one thing in which they differed.

 

“So anyway,” she said, trying to bring the conversation back on track. “What’s going on with the Glee kids over there? I know Aphrodite and Apollo are all dramatic and tend to break out in song all over the place and date quasi-incestuously and stuff, but this is a bit much even for them. I repeat, there’s like three people at camp, how on earth do you create a love triangle from that?”

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Miranda saw her sister begin to count on her fingers, head tilted, and sighed internally. She should probably check Billie’s geometry homework at some point.

 

“Well, apparently, the new guy – ”

 

“Oooh, the hottie with the language barrier?” Billie interrupted excitedly. “Gods, he is so _dreamy.”_

 

“Oh, yeah. Complete five out of seven, perfect score,” Chiara agreed. “Gods, Damian got so mad when I accidentally said New Guy’s name instead of his, it was really hot.”

 

Miranda blushed, though she had to agree. Paolo, as she had learned his name was, was seriously attractive. Like if Sherman got a tan, and a better haircut, and was leaner, less bulky, although she did really like his arms, and how they moved when she made him help her lug bags of fertilizer over to the strawberry fields, and she could…

 

A hand snapped its fingers in front of her face and she flinched.

 

“Hey lover girl, I know your guy’s hot, and you’re probably frustrated from taking it slow, but seriously. Stop having ocular sex across the dining pavilion.”

 

Miranda groaned. “Chiara, when I told you to stop using the f-word in from of my charges, I didn’t mean replace it. I meant, actually stop talking about it.”

 

“Whatever,” Chiara dismissed. “Anyway, the new guy, Paulo, or what’s-his-face, has been spending a lot of time in the infirmary check-up room, with Solace and the door closed, and you know what that means.”

 

“That Will was checking on the massive wound he got on his way to camp and almost died from?” Miranda hazarded. She knew not to take any of Chiara’s rumors about the head healer without a grain of salt. Flippant about it as she may be, the daughter of Demeter could sense that her friend’s pride was still a little sore about being dumped after three weeks.

 

“You are adorable,” Chiara cooed. “Anyway, Nico’s mad, but because he’s a brooding angsty year 2000 emo who’s more likely to cut someone – possibly himself – than actually face his problems, he goes storming around all upset, and then of course Valentina finds out, and you know how weirdly invested the Aphrodite cabin is in that relationship. It’s bordering on creepy right now. So she does her own storming over to the Hermes cabin, because if anyone knows if a guy’s cheating, it’s apparently his best friend, even when said best friend has only been back for six hours.”

 

The daughter of Tyche actually paused for a moment. “I’ll admit I was kind of impressed with Cecil. He did actually know something for once. And of course, being Cecil, he immediately does whatever would make the situation worse, and tells Val about it. So that’s when My Funny Valentine charges over to the archery range to cuss out Free Willie. Apparently, her siblings threatened her with split ends if their new toy couple broke up while they were gone.”

 

The three girls winced in unison. They all remembered Drew Tanaka waking everyone up one morning with her high-pitched screams upon discovering on her brush a hair that wasn’t perfectly healthy. (It had later turned out to have been placed there by Alice as her initiation prank to the Hermes cabin.)

 

“Aw, I do feel kind of bad for them, though,” Billie admitted. “Especially Nico. He just seems so different when he’s with Will. Like, not terrifying different.”

 

“Yeah, Will made a really big difference in him,” agreed Miranda. “I hope they figure it out, I hate those patches of dead grass he leaves everywhere.”

 

Just then, the sound of more yells came towards them, and the three girls twisted around interestedly. Cecil was striding ahead, completely red in the face, while Will tripped over his own long legs, trying to keep up while simultaneously dragging the much shorter Nico by the hand. The son of Hades was pretty red in the face as well, Miranda noted.

 

“In my bed, guys? Seriously? You have an entire cabin, plus the infirmary supply closet and exam room, but oh no, you had to pick my bed. I just washed those sheets!” Cecil huffed and finally paused at the top of the pavilion stairs.

 

“Come on, Cecil, it’s not like we were having sex, it was just kissing.”

 

“Sure looked like more from my point of view,” Cecil retorted. Nico, the daughter of Demeter saw, looked like he was trying to decide which was a better escape route from this situation, shadow travel or simply letting the ground swallow him whole. Briefly she wondered why he didn’t just leave, but then she saw how tightly Will’s hand was clenched around his, like the healer was afraid of letting go, and she thought she understood. There was nothing worse for making up than an interruption. So of course Cecil must have interrupted them.

 

“Well, that looks like it sorted itself out quite quickly,” Billie commented, picking at a celery stick.

 

“Some of my cruder work, I’ll admit,” a new voice admitted. “But definitely effective.” Valentina Diaz swung herself onto the bench next to Chiara.

 

“What’s up, ladies,” she asked in honeyed tones. “How’s Sherman? How’s loneliness? And Chiara, how’s Damian? He still have that really nice tattoo on his left –“

 

“Hey Val,” Miranda interrupted before the daughter of Aphrodite could "unluckily" choke on her salad. “You know what’s going on there?” She nodded at the group of boys, whose voices had returned to a normal volume and could no longer be clearly heard. Will had pulled Nico into a hug and let him bury his face in his shirt as he talked over his boyfriend’s head to his best friend.

 

“Oh, some boys are just really oblivious,” Valentina dismissed. “All they need is a serious yelling at and some potential ass-kicking until they can figure out that they did something wrong and need to apologize. Heh. _Apollo-_ gize.”

 

“One, don’t ever try to make words games again,” Chiara interjected (and the two daughters of Demeter nodded). “And two…”

 

They all leaned in again. “Got any video?”

 

Valentina smirked, pulling out her phone.

 

“Thought you’d never ask.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, next week you get to read the video.


	26. Nine Inch Nails

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're ever bored, show a guy and a girl the colors Pantone red and Munsell red and then sit back and watch them argue over whether it's the same color or not. Trust me, it's hilarious.

**Will**

 

Will was confused, and not in a good way. More like in a pit-in-his-stomach sinking-feeling-that-he-was-a-bad-boyfriend kind of way.

 

Turns out he really did understand quite a lot of Spanish. Mostly curse words, but still. Enough that he got the gist of what Valentina was trying to tell him. So now he was looking for Nico.

 

Problem was, he hadn’t seen his boyfriend since he’d left the infirmary without permission while the healer was giving Paolo his check-up (the son of Hebe’s healing factor was really insane, and the son of Apollo had managed to collect a whole bunch of cotton swabs with cell tissue to examine later under his microscope – if he managed to replicate the way the demigod’s platelets seemed to weave together at extra high speed, who knew how many lives could be saved?).

 

Nico wasn’t in his cabin, at the dining pavilion or in the arena – pretty much the only three places he spent any amount of time at outside of the classrooms in the Big House, or occasionally the Apollo cabin when he was feeling open and adventurous, and didn’t mind being walked in on by Will’s annoying siblings. They didn’t have class today, and the son of Hades hadn’t been curled up on the healer’s bed reading his medical journals like he usually was, when the healer returned there earlier to drop off his new blood samples in the medicine fridge they kept for experiments. He’d hidden them behind an old container with something green and fuzzy in it (either one of Kayla’s penicillin trials or someone’s old sandwich).

 

Well, he hadn’t _really_ hidden them. He’d just rather no one asked too many questions right now. Questions like whether Paolo had actually understood any of the consent forms Will had gotten him to sign. Not that the son of Apollo thought that he wouldn’t sign if he knew what they said. But you never knew. And this was important. Will thought back to the Battle of the Labyrinth. Lee’s blood gushing over his fingers as he desperately tried to hold the wound shut, trying to seal it before too much blood was lost. Maybe if the cells had been more cooperative, maybe if they’d helped to keep his brother alive instead of soaking into the ground and Will’s shirt and Lee’s hair, in a way Paolo’s just hadn’t seemed to…

 

The son of Apollo shook himself. Chiron had warned him about getting hung up on old cases like this. What was done was done, the centaur had gently chided him one evening when he’d caught the boy crying over the still body of a young daughter of Ares who’d come in with so many wounds that he’d completely overlooked the one which had eventually claimed her life, hidden in her dark hair. Nobody could change the past. Not even the gods. You could only learn from it.

 

Which was what Will was _doing._ He’d known the moment he’d started healing the son of Hebe on Half-Blood Hill. The way his blood, his wounds just seemed to respond to the healer’s touch, _helping_ him instead of fighting back. Actively keeping its host stay alive, the way bodies should.

 

Will felt like he understood death a lot better these days, he knew how necessary and often merciful in the face of agony it could be. He was dating the son of Hades, for gods’ sake! But sometimes he still looked at his hands, and all he saw was his brother’s blood. He knew he’d do anything to never have that happen again.

 

 

Eventually, after scouring the beach, climbing all the way to the top of Half-Blood Hill and questioning what he felt like was way more people than he remembered the camp currently hosting, he finally caved and went back to Valentina. She was sitting out on the porch of her cabin, filing her nails as she watched him approach, all out of breath and sweaty.

 

“Fine, I give up! Where is he, Val?”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

 

“While you were running around, did you manage to spare a few brain cells to figure out what you did? Or are you still a terrible boyfriend?”

 

Will shook his head in frustration.

 

“I _told_ you, I don’t know! All I know now is that I can’t find my boyfriend, so either you’ve kidnapped him as part of a massive prank, or he’s so upset that he left camp, and either way, I am _seriously_ worried here _,_ so if _please_ for once in your life you could stop being such a bitch and tell me what’s going on, I’d really appreciate it.”

 

Even as the words left his mouth, Will knew he’d made a mistake. Children of Aphrodite drew strength from insults the way children of Apollo did from disco. Not in a pretty way.

 

Valentina put down the nail file and held her hand to the light.

 

“Hm. Munsell or Pantone?”

 

“What?”

 

Wordlessly, she held up two bottles of red nail polish.

 

Will frowned. “Those are the exact same color.”

 

Valentina frowned back, lowering them. “Are you high? Not they’re not the same, they’re completely different. Seriously, I thought gay guys were supposed to have better eyesight than this.”

 

The son of Apollo rolled his eyes. “No, that’s just your brothers.”

 

The demigoddess cocked her head. “Oh. Makes sense. I never realized that Aidan’s not colorblind, and he’s straight as they come.”

 

“Just because we can’t see as many colors as you doesn’t make us colorblind.”

 

“Of course it does, that’s literally what ‘colorblind’ means. Blind to certain colors.”

 

“But – look, we’re getting off topic here, Val. Where is my boyfriend?”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite leaned back like a cat who’d just caught the canary.

 

“You know the things about bitches, Will. They bite hardest when protecting their puppies.” She shook one of the bottles, holding it up to the light. “Hm, yes, Pantone, I think.”

 

Will sighed, sitting on the porch. “I don’t get it. He’s never been bothered by any of the other patients I treat.”

 

“But did you ever tell your boyfriend you thought any of them were hot?”

 

“I don’t think so, but really? Nico knows better than that. He knows I love him. And that I think he’s hot. Like, ‘thank the gods for those cut-off tank tops’ hot.”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite snorted.

 

“Thank Drew, you mean. But come on. You know Nico.”

 

Will shook his head. “I thought I did.”

 

“Oh come on!” Will had to dodge a booted foot as it came swinging the way of his head. “You are so dense, seriously, is your skull filled with concrete? Your boy’s got all the self-confidence of a squirrel getting shot at with a machine gun, you know this. Why would you _ever_ tell him you thought someone else was attractive?”

 

Will shifted uncomfortably. “Shouldn’t you be honest with your boyfriend?”

 

“Oh, sweetie. Of course. Eventually. After a few years. Once you’re married is definitely a good time to start. But there’s a big difference between being honest and not knowing when to keep your mouth shut. And between you and me, giving the guy that many check-ups in front of your boyfriend? Even if it’s all perfectly innocent – because let’s be honest here, we both know you don't have the guts to actually cheat – that’s not being honest, that’s just being cruel.”

 

Will dropped him head to his knees.

 

“Ugh. When did you become such a relationship expert? You’ve never dated anyone for longer than three days.”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite blew delicately on her nails.

 

“I get bored easily. Nico’s at the Hermes cabin, he's looking for your Christmas present.”

 

The son of Apollo glared at her. “No he’s not. You’re just trying to make me feel like an even more horrible person than I already do.”

 

She smiled sweetly. “Is it working?”

 

Will stood, glaring some more. “I owe you one.”

 

“Two, actually” she called after him.

 

 

 

**Nico**

 

He brushed the hair out of his face, wincing at the feeling of the hair gel Valentina had insisted on rubbing in after cutting it. He wasn’t quite sure why he’d let her. She’d just come up to him in the arena where he was busily hacking away at a practice dummy – definitely not working off the nervous tension that seemed to fill him every time he saw that stupid Brazilian guy disappear into the exam room with his stupid boyfriend. To her credit, she hadn’t asked him what was going on, merely picked up a sword of her own and a shield and let him chase around a moving target for a while, until he was out of breath and loose enough to start ranting. Once he'd run out of words, dripping in sweat and so sore he could barely lift his arms, but feeling better than he had in days, like sharing his thoughts had lifted some sort of burden off him, she'd ordered him to the Aphrodite cabin to shower. He agreed only because he knew Will would be finishing up archery practice right now, and he didn’t want to run into his boyfriend in the public showers. Not today. He didn’t want to delve too far into that thought though, not right now. Not when he was feeling sort of better and not like his entire life was collapsing again. And the Aphrodite cabin was closer than his own.

 

He maybe should really check if Valentina didn’t, in fact, have charmspeak.

 

The daughter of Aphrodite had returned just as he was stepping out of the bathroom and ordered him to turn around and go back in. She’d looked sort of intimidating, muttering in Spanish under her breath, so he’d decided not to argue, even putting on the clothes she’d thrown at him. He was pretty sure they belonged to one of her brothers, but at least they were black. And he liked the bomber jacket. It kind of reminded him of the aviator one he’d lost. Briefly he wondered whether he’d be allowed to keep it.

 

He’d had a moment of hesitation (and fear) when she'd come up on him with the most massive pair of scissors he’d ever seen, but by the time she was done, he couldn’t deny that he looked pretty good. He wasn’t used to the feeling, and he briefly wondered whether there was something in the air of the Aphrodite bathroom, like some sort of confidence-giving magic.

 

Which brought him back to now, looking for a hairdryer among the dozens of boxes lining the back wall of the Hermes cabin. Valentina had insisted they were keeping it and just lying about it already having arrived to irritate her. And apparently he owed her. Because apparently nothing in this world was free, especially not makeovers by the Aphrodite cabin. He just hoped he could find the stupid thing before any of the Hermes kids came back and he became the target of their newest pranks for snooping around.

 

Of course, he probably should have realized that fatigue from training would lead him to letting his guard down. In any case, he didn’t notice the other demigod until a thud sounded. Whirling around, he saw Will leaning against the wall by the door, staring at him open-mouthed.

 

“What,” he asked defensively. He glanced down at his outfit, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Well, yeah, the jacket was too big, he couldn’t really fill it out the way _Paolo_ probably could, and the jeans still hung kind of loosely off his hips, because Valentina hadn’t let him tighten his belt enough, but…

 

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted when a pair of hands yanked his head back up, and Will’s lips crushed against his. All he could do was gasp at the hunger the son of Apollo was pouring into the kiss, like he was starving and Nico was a healthy, balanced meal.

 

 

“Do you have any idea how hot you look right now,” Will growled into his ear, and Nico felt his back hit the shelves. “Valentina’s so right, I do owe her two. Though considering what she had to work with…” He finally stopped talking as his lips trailed down the son of Hades’s neck, sucking and even biting with a lot more strength than Nico was used to from his usually sweet and caring boyfriend. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant either. It kind of reminded him of the energy with which everyone at camp looked at Paolo.

 

Right. Paolo.

 

Drawing strength from whatever dregs were left of his pride, Nico raised his hands from Will’s waist and shoved hard at his chest. The son of Apollo went stumbling back, looking like a kicked puppy.

 

“Babe, what’s wrong?”

 

“What about Paolo.”

 

The kicked puppy look seemed to intensify, and Nico had to fight to hold on to his anger. But he couldn’t do this again, couldn’t fall so hard for someone who didn’t love him back. Not again.

 

“I’m using his blood cells to try and develop a therapy to accelerate a wound’s healing process. Please don’t tell anyone.”

 

“What?”

 

Will took a tentative step forwards. “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I should have realized how suspicious it would look, especially with all the gossips at camp. But I’m not cheating on you, I promise.”

 

Nico raised his hands, indicating him to slow down.

 

“Wait just a second, let me process. You’re doing _what_ with his blood?”

 

Will scratched his head sheepishly. “Remember how I told you how fast he heals, because of his mother probably?”

 

Nico nodded. He did remember something to that effect among the memories of his boyfriend ogling another guy, memories that he’d been trying to block out for the last few days.

 

“Well, I think maybe I can create a medicine that would do the same thing for other demigods, and even mortals. Think about it, Nico. How many people die every day because they bleed out before they can reach a hospital? What if I could come up with something that makes that less likely?”

 

“Will… that sounds amazing. But why wouldn’t you tell me?”

 

His boyfriend winced.

 

“Will.”

 

“I may not have… completely explained to Paolo what I wanted to do. Or why I needed those blood samples. Well, I did, it was written in the forms I had him sign, but… ”

 

Nico sighed. “Let me guess. They were in English?”

 

Will nodded, and he squeezed the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thoughts.

 

“Okay, so on the one hand, you’re doing some dubiously ethical experiments with a guy’s blood.”

 

Will grimaced. "Please don't break up with me."

 

“On the other hand, he’s not getting hurt, you’re doing it because you want to save lives, and you’re not cheating on me.”

 

His boyfriend perked up, suddenly seeming more hopeful. Nico considered. He suddenly felt powerful.

 

“I don’t want you to do any more check-ups on him. Not with the door closed.”

 

Even he could hear how childish and demanding he sounded, but Will seemed to fall all over himself nodding.

 

“Absolutely. I don’t need him anymore anyway, I have enough blood vials and cell swabs and stuff for literally months of research, and I realize saying that sounds really bad and unethical, but on the other hand, I did save his life, so…”

 

Nico rolled his eyes, smiling in spite of himself.

  
“Just kiss me like that again.”

 

Will wasted no time pulling him forwards onto the nearest bed, which luckily looked like it had clean sheets on it.

 

“You do look really, really hot, though, have I mentioned?” the son of Apollo asked again between desperate kisses that seemed to pull Nico’s entire soul out of his mouth.

 

“Yeah, you mentioned, he muttered, running his own hands eagerly down his boyfriend’s back. Will groaned appreciatively, pawing at his jacket.

 

“Coat’s gotta go, though, babe,” he muttered again, trying to shove it off Nico’s shoulders. “I love it and all, but–“

 

Nico shut him up by threading a hand into the hair at the back of his head and pulling him back into a kiss, other arm working its way out of the sleeve. Finally the offending piece of clothing came off and crumpled on the floor next to the bed, but Nico hardly even noticed, because Will had suddenly shoved him down on his back (getting hair gel all over the pillow) and started kissing down his body until he was level with his stomach, where he yanked the bottom of the tank top up. The son of Hades tensed momentarily before the healer started pressing kisses to the newly exposed skin along his jeans, and he arched up into the touch, now tense for a whole different reason.

 

“Will,” he whispered desperately, embarrassed when his voice came out all low and needy, but too turned on to care. “Will…”

 

 

“Guys, what the actual fuck?”

 

 

 

**Miranda**

 

 

Once he’d finished berating Will, the daughter of Demeter saw Cecil storm over to their table. Valentina smirked as he slammed down what she recognized as a camera in front of her. It was tiny and looked high tech, absolutely top of the line.

 

“I know you did this,” the son of Hermes snarled. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know how, but I know you did this and I will get you back for it, Diaz. And you are definitely replacing my sheets.”

 

He stomped off to his own table and the girls held out a few seconds before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Valentina collected a few high-fives.

 

“What can I say,” she shrugged modestly. “I get bored easily.”

 

 

 

 

 


	27. Sticks and Daggers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mouahaha, made it before midnight. It's still Saturday somewhere!

**Will**

 

He flinched to the left, narrowly avoiding the slicing dagger as it slipped along the side of his ribs. That would definitely have done a number on his left lower lung.

 

“Focus, Will!” Nico called out angrily and the son of Apollo hurriedly shoved any more medical thoughts out of his mind, dodging a wide cut again and trying to sneak in his own dagger between parries. His boyfriend easily trapped his arm, twisting his wrist till he dropped the knife, then twisted it in the other direction until Will was face down in the dirt floor of the arena yelling “yield, yield”, as painful twinges ran up his arm. The son of Hades finally let him go, calmly stepping back, picking up his knife.

 

“I think I’m done for today,” the healer panted into the dirt, arms flopping uselessly at his sides.

 

“What do you mean, we just started?” Nico cocked his head in that adorable way of his, looking genuinely confused.

 

“Yeah. An hour and twenty-three minutes ago. Twenty-four,” Will amended, rolling onto his back so he could look up at the weak November sun.

 

“Yeah, I know. But you’re not going to learn at any decent speed unless we do at least four hours a day.”

 

“Four hours, are you kidding me? I can’t take that much time out of the infirmary!”

 

“Well, what else do you want to do, I thought you wanted to learn how to fight?”

 

“I do, I just don’t have the time for _four hours a day_. Aren’t you going a little overboard?”

 

Nico huffed, turning away. “Well, excuse me if I care about whether you get gutted the next time you face an enemy demigod, or a hellhound, or an empousa, or –“

 

“Okay, fine I get it, you want me to be able to defend myself. I understand, I want to be able to defend myself too. But let’s be honest, if I’m gonna end up in a knife fight, the safest thing to do is run away.”

 

“That’s what everyone thinks, till they have a knife embedded in their back.”

 

Will frowned at his boyfriend and Nico shrugged.

 

“You can learn a lot from dead people.”

 

The healer slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, contemplating. Every one of his muscles screamed in protest, but a plan was hatching in his mind.

 

“Okay, how about this. I spend two hours training with you every day. In exchange, you spend two hours talking therapy to someone – me, Chiron, anyone.”

 

Nico recoiled. “What? No! Why would I do that?”

 

Will sighed, resting his elbows on his knees.

 

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this. Come here.” He patted the ground next to him. Nico glared suspiciously for a moment before dropping down to his knees. Will noticed his eyes flick around the deserted arena as he did.

 

“Here.” He took the son of Hades’s hand securely in his, more to hold him there than anything else. And to peel away the practice daggers, which he threw in the sand a few feet away. He stopped and started a few times, before sighing again.

 

“What?” Nico prodded curiously.

 

“Your shadow travel – I think I know why it isn’t working the way it used to. Why you keep passing out every time you try it.”

 

His boyfriend raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’s great, what is it?”

 

Will closed his eyes.

 

“It’s psychosomatic, Nico.”

 

The son of Hades gave a nervous laugh. “What? What does that mean?”

 

“It means it’s not a physical problem. It’s your mind that’s causing it.”

 

Nico tensed. “Are you calling me crazy? Because I’m not, I’m definitely not.”

 

“Of course not, no, you’re not crazy,” Will quickly interceded soothingly. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. “You’re not crazy, your mind is just trying to protect you. Whenever you shadow travel, it thinks you’re in danger, so it tells your body to shut down. To, you know. Play dead.”

 

“That’s ridiculous, Will. I’ve been shadow traveling for years, and this never happened before, it must be something else, you must’ve missed _something_. I can’t believe you think I’d do something like this.”

 

“No, Nico –“ His boyfriend tried to pull away and the healer had to grab onto his arm to keep him from storming off. “I know you’re not doing it on purpose, this is all subconscious. Like blushing, or sneezing. It’s not something anyone expects you to control. And you said yourself, the sheer amount of shadow travel this summer might have broken your abilities.”

 

The son of Hades slumped down miserably. “So you do think I’m broken.”

 

Will internally rolled his eyes. How did they keep coming back to this conversation again and again?

 

“No, of course not. You’re just a bit – deregulated. And the only way to get you back on track is to get your mind to stop using unconsciousness as a defense mechanism.”

 

“And how is talking supposed to help with that?”

 

Will hesitated. “Well. It might not. But even if it doesn’t, it could tell us what we need to do. The next step to healing you.” He rubbed Nico’s arm, trying to go for comforting.

 

The son of Hades seemed unconvinced.

 

“I feel fine though. I don’t need to talk to anyone. Can’t we just keep running tests, see if something else turns up? I’m sure there must be something else.”

 

But Will was already shaking his head.

 

“Even if we did, there’s too much I don’t know about at this point to be able to tell if there’s been an injury with slow-acting effects. Face it, Nico. You need to talk about what happened to you these last few years. Not just chronicling the events –“ he added, seeing his boyfriend open his mouth to protest “–but how you felt about them as well. You keeping everything bottled up – that’s the problem, angel. That’s what’s causing your problems. You need to work through this somehow.”

 

Nico slumped down, throwing a handful of dirt in front of him.

 

“I don’t know if I can,” he mumbled so quietly that Will barely caught the words.

 

“It’s a process,” he promised. “We’ll get through it eventually. Together.”

 

But Nico looked up at him with his sad, pained eyes, and Will saw the resolution in them.

 

“No. If I’m doing this, then it’s with Chiron.”

 

The healer nodded, taking a breath to steady himself. “Okay. If that’s what you want.”

 

 

**Nico**

 

“You know, I don’t feel so great, maybe we should reschedule.”

 

Will grabbed his arm, dragging him back down the hallway of the Big House.

 

“Hey. I held up my end of the deal,” he hissed. “Two hours, thirty-seven minutes and ten seconds of dagger practice this morning. You are not getting out of your therapy session, Death Boy.”

 

 

Nico scowled, but allowed himself to be pulled back away from the door. Once they were back at the entrance to Chiron’s office, the son of Apollo let go of his arm, turning to look at the pictures on the walls instead. The son of Hades knew he was picking out the photos of siblings of his, ones currently at home and ones who’d already outgrown Camp Half-Blood, and a few who’d died. Even though he loudly proclaimed to be supportive of Nico’s decision, the healer had been acting withdrawn since he’d decided he wanted to do the psychoanalytic sessions with Chiron instead of him.

 

“Hey, Will,” Nico called quietly.

 

“Hm?” His boyfriend looked up from the pictures.

 

“You know…” Nico swallowed and tried again. “The reason I want to do this with Chiron is, well – “

 

“You don’t have to explain to me, Nic,” Will told him. “It’s your decision, I understand.”

 

“No, you don’t,” the son of Hades insisted. “I want you to, though. It’s just – I know you’ll worry a lot more about the stuff I tell you. And I don’t like it when you’re worried,” he completed awkwardly.

 

Will raised an eyebrow. “Well now I’m definitely worried.”

 

Nico shoved his shoulder, but it was half-hearted at best.

 

“So, we good?” he ventured.

 

The son of Apollo smiled resignedly. “Yeah, of course. And for what it’s worth, I appreciate you being worried about me.”

 

Nico nodded, and Will pulled him into a hug. It felt nice, just the soft warmth of the embrace, without the fire they’d increasingly been experimenting with in their make-out sessions ever since Valentina’s makeover.

 

Finally, the door to Chiron’s office opened, and the centaur leaned out, letting leave a smirking Cecil and a fuming – literally fuming, with smoke coming out of her hair – Chiara.

 

“All right then, Nico.” Chiron nodded at him, and Nico reluctantly moved forwards. Will squeezed his shoulder, giving him a little shove, and he stepped into the office.

 

 


	28. Teachers outside of school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I looked up Chiron just as a side note for this chapter, but turns out, there are actually some pretty messed up myths surrounding him. That made the whole chapter a lot more appropriate somehow. You can look them up yourself, or I summed up the relevant ones at the end.

**Chiron**

 

“I’m not really sure what it is I’m supposed to be doing here,” the son of Hades admitted, fingering the small pot he’d picked off the edge of Chiron’s desk. It was one of the centaur’s favorites, one he’d kept all these years, back from the times when he’d lived on Mount Pelion, and only few demigods ever made it to his cave. Jason. Herakles. Achilles and Patrocles. It had been a different time, a simpler time. When he closed his eyes, he could almost feel like he was back there. The warm summer nights with the crickets humming. The smell of sweet grass and overripe olives. Rushing water, his wife Chariclo’s voice singing down by the river. Tiny hooves tripping across the clearing as their children chased each other around. A simpler time indeed.

 

“That’s perfectly fine,” Chiron told the demigod softly, regarding him benevolently from the other side of the desk. “Will simply mentioned to me that using your powers might become easier if you unloaded some of that weight you carry around with you, young demigod. And I must say, I agree with him,” the centaur added when Nico made a scoffing noise. “If only for your own well-being.”

 

“But I’m fine,” the young demigod protested. “I feel fine, I’ve dealt with all that, I don’t need to talk about it anymore.” He got up, starting to pace back and forth. “I’ve literally told Will everything. I don’t know what he wants from me.”

 

Chiron hummed. He had little experience with children of Hades – even before the pact of the Big Three, they’d been few and far between. And even then, they tended to be shunned by ordinary people and demigods alike. Everyone had a loved one who’d passed away too early, after all. Everybody had a bone to pick with Hades. The lucky ones among his children were left at his temples, raised to become priests of the Dead. The unlucky ones…

 

“Why don’t you have some hot chocolate?” the old centaur decided. Stick to the basics, he told himself. Children were children, and the weather had gotten quite chilly. He’d noticed Nico rubbing his hands together at one point.

 

Nico stopped in his tracks. “…That’s okay, thanks. I’d rather just get this over with.”

 

Chiron rolled his chair over to the boiler, unperturbed. “Why the rush? We have at least two hours until dinner, and all your lessons for the day are finished.”

 

The son of Hades let himself fall back in his chair. “Why do we need two hours? Can’t I just tell you what you want to know and then go?”

 

“Well,” the centaur smiled gently, pouring some of the boiling water into one of the mugs he’d pulled out. “First we have to figure out what it is you need to get off your chest.”

 

“Nothing!” yelled the boy, suddenly on his feet. Chiron was quite happy he’d finished pouring the boiling water. “I don’t know what it is you want to hear!”

 

“Please sit down, Nico,” Chiron said in a soothing voice. “Here, have some cocoa.”

 

The son of Hades settled back down, looking both mutinous and slightly ashamed. He took the mug, stirring it around absentmindedly. They sat in silence for a while.

 

“Is this with powder?” the demigod suddenly asked.

 

“Ah, I see. You’re used to real chocolate, aren’t you?” Chiron remarked in amusement. “I do miss the years in Western Europe some days.”

 

Nico shrugged. “It was a long time ago. They probably use powder too now.”

 

The centaur paused thoughtfully. “And yet the past still often feels so very close. Do you miss it?”

 

The son of Hades seemed to weigh the answer, absently taking a sip of the drink before grimacing.

 

“I don’t know. Of course, objectively, now is… better for me. And Will.” The boy blushed slightly, quickly taking another sip of his drink. Chiron wondered whether he should perhaps extend some sort of cabin ban to those two. But then, it wasn’t like either of them was going to become pregnant. Not like his sweet Hippe when she’d run off with that fiend Aeolus. His poor little girl… he still looked up at the stars, the constellation Artemis had turned her into, and wondered. If he’d been a better father, if he’d paid more attention, would things have turned out differently? If she hadn’t been afraid to come to him? And her little girl as well. He knew he should have done something sooner to help her, instead of leaving it to his great-grandsons. Gods, he remembered when those two had shown up on his doorstep. Sons of Poseidon. He'd had a soft spot for the Sea god's boys ever since. Percy showing up at the Big House for the first time, mumbling about his missing mother. Chiron had been sure for a moment that the gods must have been laughing at him. Rewinding history. Daring him to do better.

 

Chiron shook himself. Now was not the time for what ifs. What was done was done, and he had other young ones to help.

 

“But?” he prompted gently.

 

Nico shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. It’s gone, isn’t it?”

 

“Are the things we love ever truly gone?” mused the centaur. “I believe you in particular would know something about that.”

 

But the son of Hades was shaking his head again. “No, sometimes they are. And I’ve made my peace with that. Bianca’s off reborn somewhere, and I’m not getting her back.”

 

The centaur nodded, taking note. “That’s very wise of you, young demigod.”

 

The boy shrugged. “It’s not like I have much of a choice in the matter.”

 

“And yet you would be surprised how many people struggle with letting go. But I see that this is not what troubles you right now.”

 

Nico blew the air out of his nose irritatedly. “I told you, I don’t know what you want to hear.”

 

Chiron tipped his head. “That’s twice now that you’ve spoken about what you think I want. But it’s not a matter of what I want, Nico. It’s a matter of what’s best for you.”

 

“Great. Well, if we’ve established that, then can I go? Because I don’t know what’s best for me, but I don’t think you picking apart my brains, or hypnotizing me, or whatever, is going to do much good.”

 

Chiron coughed. “Ah, please sit down again, Nico.”

 

The son of Hades looked around, halfway to the door, and trudged back to his chair disappointedly.

 

“Very good. Now, I should have realized this would be a cause for confusion. But psychotherapy has changed quite a bit since your mother’s time. We no longer rely on things like hypnosis.”

 

Nico frowned. “Then what do you do?”

 

Chiron hesitated. “Pardon me if I stir up unpleasant memories, but do you by any chance remember attending a Mass when you were younger? In Italy in the 1920s, it would have been quite common."

 

The son of Hades closed his eyes, frowning hard.

 

“I… think so? I can picture it in my head, and hear the psalms, but it’s like a video. Not a memory.”

 

Chiron nodded. “That makes sense. The Lethe would have washed away any memories, but left your general knowledge intact. Now do you understand the concept of confession?”

 

The demigod’s expression became guarded. “I do.”

 

Chiron nodded. “Well then, consider this similar. You are under no obligation to talk, of course. You may speak of anything you wish, or nothing at all. But doing so might help relieve you of any burden you may be carrying. Do you understand?”

 

The son of Hades nodded. “I didn’t do anything, though.”

 

“No, my dear boy, of course not. But even if it is just something that bothers you, that you’d like to share. Now is the time. Or any of our other meetings, of course.”

 

Nico took a deep breath, then nodded. “Okay.”

 

They sat in silence for a while. Outside it had started raining, the soft patter filling the room with a soothing sound.

 

“Nico… may I ask you something?” the centaur finally ventured, having been able to zero in on what had been bothering him about their earlier discussion.

 

“What?” The son of Hades seemed to be on his guard again. Chiron sighed internally.

 

“You kept speaking of what you think people want from you. Tell me, Nico, what is it that you want?”

 

Nico’s gaze dropped. “I don’t know,” he whispered, and when he looked up, his gaze was suddenly raw and vulnerable. “I want… to be home, I guess?”

 

Chiron didn’t move a muscle, and the son of Hades took the sign to continue.

 

“I want my friends, and my family. Hazel, and Reyna, and the others. Jason. Percy, Annabeth, Piper. Will. I want Will. So much that is scares me sometimes.” His voice cracked on the last words, and he coughed.

 

“And what about for your future? Anything in particular you want?”

 

The son of Hades shrugged. “Haven’t really thought about it. I like healing, what Will’s been teaching me, but I know that’s not really what I should be doing.”

 

Chiron cocked his head, curious. “And why is that?”

 

Nico gave a bark of laughter, but the centaur still saw the grimace flash across his face. “I’m the son of Hades. The idea of me being a healer – it’s kind of ridiculous, I know.”

 

Chiron closed his eyes, shaking his head.

 

“Believe me, Nico. I have lived for thousands of years, and if there is one thing that every age needed more of, it is healers. I’ll see on Monday about incorporating some of the more advanced lessons about healing in your learning plan. Perhaps we'll replace some of your sword-fighting training. Will can help tutor you so you can catch up with the others.”

 

The son of Hades seemed to perk up. “Really? I mean, I’m already teaching mostly about fighting – it’s what I’m good at, after all.”

 

Chiron raised an eyebrow. “But is it what you want?”

 

Nico seemed to gasp for air a couple of times, like a fish being pulled out of the water. “Well, it’s just that camp needs fighters. With Thalia and Percy gone, I’m the only Greek Big Three left, if we get attacked, I need to be strong enough to –“

 

“Nico,” interrupted the centaur. “Is it what you want?”

 

The son of Hades felt silent. Chiron saw a tear slide down the bridge of his nose before he wiped it away angrily.

 

“No,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. I know, it’s selfish, not to want to protect the others, I just – ”

 

The healer wheeled his chair around the desk, coming to a stop beside the boy. He pressed his hand gently onto his shoulder.

 

“It’s fine,” he repeated again. “The camp survived for eighty years without any Big Three children. If you don’t want to fight, that’s fine. Nobody can force you to, and neither can they make you feel guilty about it.”

 

“I’m just so tired,” the son of Hades whispered.

 

Chiron nodded, closing his eyes. “I know, little one. I understand.”

 

 

 

Later that evening, as he watched Nico jog down the steps of the Big House, running up to Will Solace, who was waiting for him at the dining pavilion for dinner, Chiron allowed himself to slump into his chair. He looked around at the valley. The leaves were past the bright hues of fall and were now gathering in heaps around the bases of the trees, which stood bare like they never had on Mount Pelion, not really. He wondered about his wife and children, where they were now. Some river elsewhere in the US, he imagined. He hoped they were close together, wherever they were.

 

Darkness fell early these days. He looked up at the sky, spotting the Equus constellation easily.

 

“Well, I still have you, my dear child. What say you we go to dinner?”

 

The stars twinkled down at him and he smiled sadly, making his way to the pavilion.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So according to the myths (and Wikipedia, all credits to them), Chiron lived on Mount Pelion (an actual mountain in Greece) and was married to a nymph called Chariclo. They had four children, Hippe, Endeïs, Ocyrhoe and Carystus. Hippe became pregnant with an illegitimate child by a local king, Aeolus, and was afraid to tell her father, so she ran away, disguised as a horse. Artemis found and took pity on her, and turned her into the "Equus" constellation. Her daughter Arne was entrusted to a tutor, but got pregnant with twins by Poseidon, and when the tutor found out, he blinded her and entombed her. Her twin sons were sent to Chiron, since they were demigods, and later rescued her. (Poseidon restored her sight and she married a king, so yay, I guess?)
> 
> There are a bunch of other pretty nasty stories surrounding the other children, as well as Chiron's death (yeah, apparently at one point, he gives up his immortality and dies, which obviously we ignore here) but those aren't really relevant to this chapter in particular.


	29. Child, Things are Gonna get Easier

**Will**

 

“How’d it go?”

 

Nico groaned as he dragged himself across the Apollo cabin to drop unceremoniously in a heap on top of Will’s bed. The healer chuckled, snapping his book shut.

 

“That bad, huh?”

 

Nico groaned again and Will grabbed him under the arms, pulling his boyfriend’s head into his lap. The son of Hades practically purred as he ran his hands through his dark silky hair, massaging his scalp.

 

“It was okay, I guess.”

 

“Yeah?” Will slid his hands further down to Nico’s neck, rubbing at the knots he found there. Nico gave a quiet moan, and Will had to think of images of infected stomach wounds for a few seconds.

 

“Hmhm. We just talked a bit about… random stuff. Oh, don’t move, right there, Will.”

 

The son of Apollo smiled, moving his fingers back to a particularly tense spot at the juncture between his neck and his shoulder.

 

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me about it,” he reassured his boyfriend, continuing to rub at the knot.

 

“Yeah. I kinda want to, though.” Nico let out another moan, and Will did his best to think of blood-filled pustules.

 

“Chiron said he’s going to let me take healing courses with the rest of you guys,” Nico admitted quietly, and the son of Apollo felt some of the slight tension return.

 

“That sounds awesome,” he reassured, moving his hands down to his shoulders. “It’ll be great to have you with us,”

 

Nico twisted around to look at him. “You’re not annoyed, though? I mean, healing is kind of your thing.”

 

“What? No, of course not! We always need more healers! And besides,” he dropped a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “This just means more time with you for me.” He kissed him again, slightly further to the left, and again, until he was trailing kisses down his boyfriend’s nose and to his mouth, pausing to nibble on his upper lip until Nico got impatient and claimed his mouth in a searing kiss. They’d gotten better at these, more tactile and comfortable, and Nico didn’t even knee him in the groin when he pulled himself over Will’s legs, straddling him. Will was happy to wrap his arms around his waist before falling backwards, pulling his boyfriend on top of him. They made out wetly for a few minutes, and Will was about to try and work up the courage to slide a hand under Nico’s T-shirt where it had ridden up in the back when the door slammed.

 

“All right lovebirds, break it up, we have a problem.”

 

Will groaned. “Kayla. What.”

 

“Oh no, you don’t need to move,” Austin smirked as Nico rolled off of Will. The son of Apollo let him go without complaint, knowing Nico still wasn’t very comfortable with PDA. So he was pretty surprised when instead of scooting off to the foot of the bed like he usually did, his boyfriend remained next to him, tucking his head into the crook of Will’s neck. But he wasn’t complaining.

 

“Seriously, what’s up, guys?” he asked distractedly, happily looping his arms back around the son of Hades’s waist.

 

“It’s the Hephaestus cabin’s newest Three-Legged Death Race, Will. It’s bad.” The amused look dropped off Austin’s face.

 

“Why, what’s wrong with it? We’ve done them before, it’s no big deal.” The son of Apollo frankly couldn’t quite say he was giving this all too much attention, Nico had given him one of his shy smiles that made Will want to kiss every inch of his body.

 

“Will!”

 

“Oh, come on! Would you guys relax, it can’t be that bad.” Will pulled back from the kiss he’d been leaning into, pouting, and Nico rubbed his shoulder affectionately.

 

“What’s so different about this time?” his boyfriend asked his siblings instead.

 

Kayla’s face was grim.

 

“They let Harley design it.”

 

Nico sat up suddenly, and Will, not ready to let go just yet, was pulled up with him.

 

“What, why? That’s a terrible idea, have they met him?”

 

“Well you know Nyssa, she adores him. I guess he asked her to be allowed to do it, and she just let him.”

 

“Without supervision? It’s official, we’re all going to die,” the son of Hades stated flatly.

 

“Okay, hold on guys,” Will interjected. “Why is this such a terrible idea? Harley’s eight, he’s not going to blow us all up.”

 

“He might,” Kayla said darkly. “We’re talking about the kid who brought exploding arrows to target practice. He almost set my hair on fire.”

 

“Yeah, I have to teach him basic sword fighting, and firecrackers keep falling out of his pockets,” Nico added.

 

“And don’t forget he’s the reason the closet with the electric guitars in the music arena is locked now. I caught him trying to install bombs in them so they could spontaneously explode at the end of a performance.” Austin commented.

 

“Wait, you know he knows how to pick locks, right?”

 

Austin did a double take. “He knows how to what now?”

 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I saw Connor teach him on the infirmary supply closet.”

 

“And you didn’t stop him?”

 

The son of Hades’s eyes flicked to Will’s, a slight blush covering his face. “Um… I was in a hurry?”

 

“Uh oh, hold on.” Kayla was checking one of the schedules hanging above the head counselor’s desk. “Looks like the Hermes cabin has music today.”

 

The four demigods looked around at each other for a second, before scrambling for the door.

 

 

**Nico**

 

“All right, look here.” Will wrapped an arm around his shoulders so his front was pressed to Nico’s back. “Fingers slightly twisted, just like that, right, and now you have to just move your hand back and forth, just like that, gently. Make sure to spread out the lotion evenly, all right? Same everywhere, all over it, just like that. Here.” He wrapped his hand around Nico’s, guiding it, and the son of Hades felt a shiver pass through him when his boyfriend’s breath ghosted over his cheek.

 

“Um, guys? When you’re done flirting, can I have my hand back?”

 

Will looked up at Cecil, whose hands they were treating.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Nico smirked, continuing to spread the burn cream onto the son of Hermes’ fingers.

 

“I’m sorry, I must have fallen into some alternate dimension where patients know better than their doctors about what to do when said patients decide to smash an electric guitar against a column during rehearsal. Why didn’t you tell me, sweetheart?” He pressed a kiss to Nico’s cheek before stepping away from him, and Nico did his best to keep his eyes fixed on his work. He knew his face must be the color of a tomato right now.

 

“Come on, man,” Cecil complained. “How was I supposed to know that thing had a bomb in it?”

 

“Why, oh, why do you insist on smashing the instruments?” Will paced around the bed, running a hand through his hair. “I feel like this may be your divine punishment, actually. Do you really think guitars grow on trees?”

 

Cecil frowned. “Aren’t guitars made of trees? Ouch!”

 

Will spun around to look at them. “Everything okay? Babe, you all right?”

 

Nico nodded, smirking slightly. “Sorry, just slipped.”

 

Cecil glared at him. “I’m not all right, one of my burns just got scratched.”

 

Will absentmindedly patted the son of Hermes’ hair, his eyes fixed on someone else.

 

“Hey, Nyssa!” He raised a hand at the daughter of Hephaestus and she strode across the room to them.

 

“Hey guys, what’s up? I hear the Hermes cabin trashed another guitar?”

 

“There was a BOMB in it!” Alice snarled from the next bed over. “That little menace of yours put it there!”

 

“Harley?” She shrugged. “Yeah, I remember him mentioning that he was working on one of those. I thought it was for the three-legged death race, though.”

 

“Yeah, about that,” Will interrupted, before any of the Hermes kids could retort. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to let Harley do it? I mean, yeah, he’s a sweet kid (Cecil snorted and Nico poked his burns again), but isn’t he a little…”

 

“Bloodthirsty?” Alice suggested.

 

Nyssa’s face fell. “Aw, come on, guys. You know I can’t tell him no!”

 

Asutin shook his head. “Nyssa… Why not?”

 

The daughter of Hephaestus sighed, then called out: “Hey Harley! Can you come in quick?”

 

The door to the infirmary office opened and the eight year old’s head popped through the gap.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What’s he doing in my office?” Will whispered before Nyssa shushed him.

 

“Hey Harley, sweetie, are you excited about the three-legged death race?”

 

The boy’s face immediately lit up adorably. “Yes! I’m so excited, I’m going to put in tripwires that activate flamethrowers, and a portal that’ll drop you on top of the climbing wall with the lava turned up, and then…”

 

As the son of Hephaestus chattered on about the death and destruction he was going to unleash on them, face glowing with childish joy, the demigods around the room all hung their heads. Nico felt a strange knot in his throat. He remembered having that kind of happiness. He knew that he, personally, would never be able to take it away from anyone.

 


	30. Children, am I right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For context, according to a baby name book I read, Nicholas, and its Italian variant Nicolò, means "Victory of the people" in Greek. Which I have to admit, is one of Rick Riordan's more subtle naming jokes.

**Will**

 

Will looked around rather nervously as he bounded up the front steps of the Hades cabin. It was still early, the sun only halfway above the horizon. But he figured Nico wouldn’t want an audience for this.

 

When he gave a couple of gentle raps on the door in the tune of the barbershop knock, Nico opened the door before he could finish it, immediately shuffling blearily back inside. Will closed the door gently behind him and pulled his boyfriend away from the bed he was clearly trying to return to.

 

“Good morning, sweetheart.” He pressed a kiss to the son of Hades’ forehead. It was still warm and damp from sleep, curls stuck to it, and Will’s heart swelled at how adorable he was. Nico gave an indistinct groan and pulled him to the bed after him when he found he couldn’t get free. Once Will had kicked off his shoes and they’d settled under the warm covers together, the son of Hades immediately buried his face in Will’s shirt, clearly attempting to go back to sleep.

 

“Hey, come on, wake up,” the son of Apollo nudged. “I wanted to ask you something before breakfast.”

 

Nico raised his head, glaring questioningly.

 

“What.” His voice was raspy and sort of deep, and Will fumbled for a second before remembering what he’d wanted to talk about.

 

“Here.” He groped around in the pocket of his jeans for a second until he found what he was looking for, and offered it to his boyfriend. Nico took it uncomprehendingly, turning it around and around in his hands.

 

“Will…” The son of Hades looked up at him from the bronze band, eyes wide. “What is this?”

 

“It’s for the three-legged death race today,” Will told him nervously. “I was wondering… if you wanted to do it with me?”

 

Nico gaped for a second before fisting a hand in the healer’s shirt and using it to haul himself up to his mouth. The kiss tasted slightly stale, but Will still leaned in eagerly. He’d used enough toothpaste for both of them.

 

“That a yes?” he asked breathlessly when the came up for air.

 

“Yeah,” The son of Hades nodded before pulling him back into their kiss. They slid slowly down the headboard together, until both their heads were resting on Nico’s pillows and their hands wandered around greedily over each other under the cover. Breakfast could wait.

 

 

**Nico**

 

“So Harley,” the son of Hades said sternly, seating himself across the table from the young demigod. “I’ve thought things over, and I’m prepared to do it.”

 

The son of Hephaestus looked up interestedly from the pile of candy he was sorting. Clearly, they weren’t the first team to come by and “offer” the boy gifts as “thanks” for preparing the three-legged death race.

 

“Do what?”

 

Nico took a deep breath. “I’m prepared to not murder Leo the second he sets foot in this camp.”

 

Harley dropped the Mars bar he was holding. Absently, Nico wondered whether it had been a gift from the Ares cabin.

 

“What? You’re going to kill him?” The son of Hephaestus’ lower lip started to quiver, and his eyes immediately filled with tears.

 

“No!” Nico corrected hastily. “I mean, I was going to, because he made my sister cry, but what I’m saying now is –“

 

“Hey what’s going on here?” Nyssa demanded angrily stomping over from the barbecue.

 

“He said he’s going to kill Leo!” Harley yelled, immediately bursting into heartbreaking sobs.

 

“What! Why would you do that?”

 

“He made my sister cry! But I just said, I’m not going to – ”

 

“Oh, so you decided to make his brother cry as revenge? That’s sick, di Angelo!”

 

“Hey, lay off my boyfriend. It’s not his fault he’s terrible with children. He had his childhood stolen from him.”

 

“Will, what are you talking about –“

 

“Yeah, stay out of this, Solace, this is between him and the Hephaestus cabin. No one kills one of our brothers and gets away with it!”

 

“Oh, so you mean you’re fine with Leo making you think he’s dead, disappearing for months on end, not knowing if he’s ever going to come back?”

 

“That’s different, he’s our brother, of course we’re going to kill him for that when he gets back, but he’s our brother, only we get to kill him!”

 

“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not going to kill him – “

 

Their yells were interrupted by Harley’s sobs, which suddenly doubled in volume, and had graduated to a high keening sound, not unlike a motorcycle’s.

 

“Harley. Harley!”

 

“Don’t yell at him! Hey, Harley! Calm down!”

 

“What, do only children of Hephaestus get to yell at him?”

 

“Silêncio!”

 

The older demigods fell silent once again as Paolo pushed through to the center of the group, glaring at them and muttering under his breath until he reached Harley. Swinging the boy up into his arms, he pushed his way back out, making an “I’m watching you” gesture with his free hand at them as Harley sobbed into his shirt.

 

The three demigods as well as the rest of the pavilion observed in silence as Paolo seated the boy on his own table, using a napkin to wipe away his tears, tickling him with it under his chin until he was no longer crying, but giggling instead.

 

“Wow. He’s really good with kids,” Will commented.

 

“He’s the son of the goddess of youth,” Nico pointed out. His gut was twisting uncomfortably in a way it hadn’t since he and Will had made out on Cecil’s bed.

 

“Yeah, but hello. Super hot, single and great father material? I feel like we should check that he isn’t a serial killer or something.”

 

“At this camp, who isn’t?” Will asked dreamily, still staring as Paolo cut an apple for the son of Hephaestus.

 

Nyssa and Nico both looked at him.

 

“What?” the healer asked defensively when he noticed. “It’s true. we’ve all killed multiple monsters _and_ other demigods, at least in battle.”

 

“Yeah, but not, like, in cold blood, that’s different. Do you think I should get Harley away from him until we can confirm he’s not a murderer?” Nyssa asked, her voice suddenly worried.

 

Will’s eyes had flicked to Nico’s at Nyssa’s words, and the son of Hades looked away, feeling helplessly angry.  Octavian’s words once again were echoing through his head.  _I see the ruthlessness in you._

 

“Hey, lots of serial killers were good with kids,” the healer protested weakly.

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

“Yeah, I’m gonna go over there,” Nyssa decided.

 

“I’m going to go too. Somewhere else, I mean,” Nico answered. “I’m sorry about making your brother cry. And the whole other killing your other brother thing. Yeah, I’m just gonna go.”

 

“Yeah. I mean, I get it, I want to kill him too. Just, you know. Say away from Harley for a bit. And maybe get a doctor's note to excuse you from the race.”

 

Nico nodded, then started backing away, until he was far enough from the pavilion that it didn’t look weird when he turned and started running.

 

Of course, Will caught up with him halfway across the green. Stupid tall son of Apollo.

 

“Hey! Nico! Come on, don’t run away from me!”

 

The son of Apollo was like a giant golden retriever, Nico thought in irritation, bounding around him as he ran. His opinion immediately changed when a leg stuck between his and he tripped, face-planting in the grass.

 

“Oh my gods, I’m so sorry, I just wanted to slow you down. Are you okay?” Will asked him frantically, rolling him onto his back.

 

Nico groaned. “’m fine. Just dirty.” He lifted up his scuffed hands and his boyfriend immediately took one and started fussing about, spitting on a tissue and wiping at the dirt. The son of Hades sighed, letting him.

 

“Hey, you know she didn’t mean that, right?” Will paused in his wiping to look Nico in the eyes.

 

“How could she?” Nico sighed. “She doesn’t even know. No one does, except you and Kahale.” He kicked at a rock in the grass. “And Octavian’s ghost.”

 

“Well, I’m pretty confident that he won’t be telling anyone,” Will commented, resuming the scrubbing. “But even if he did, Nic, people would totally understand. I mean, we were all there, we saw what Octavian was capable of.”

 

“People saw what Luke was capable of too, Will,” the son of Hades replied dejectedly. “But they still were happy that Percy didn’t straight up murder him.”

 

“Okay, stop right there. You did not straight up murder Octavian anymore than I did. Or Michael Kahale. You were just there. He’s the one who got himself tangled in that rope.” Will paused, cocking his head. “Why are you so upset about this again, now? We’ve been over this, you even agreed it wasn’t your fault.”

 

Nico signed, letting himself fall back into the grass.

 

“Nico.”

 

He pulled his arm out of Will’s grasp so he could cover his face with his hands.

 

“Come on, angel, talk to me.”

 

He could hear the smile in Will’s voice.

 

“It’s embarrassing,” he muttered.

 

“Any more embarrassing than having a crush on a guy you’ve barely even spoken to for years?”

 

Nico peeked between his fingers. “You can’t always use that as an excuse. And that’s still less embarrassing than this.”

 

Will made a thoughtful face. “I made a painting of you.”

 

The son of Hades dropped his hands off his face.

 

“What?”

 

Will scratched his head sheepishly. “It didn’t come out so great. Everyone thought it was of Marlon Brando. When he was younger, of course.”

 

Nico sat up. “The guy from that streetcar film you showed me? That sounds pretty great.”

 

His boyfriend shrugged. “Yeah, but then I told them it was you, and everyone proceeded to mock me mercilessly.”

 

Nico rolled his eyes.

 

“I guess I was thinking… maybe you should be dating someone like Paolo. I mean, you’ve already named our kids, and it’s just been established that I’m terrible with kids, and also a murderer, so…”

 

“Nico, come _on_. First off, _our_ kids, babe. I don’t want to raise _our_ kids with some other guy. Like, seriously. That would be so confusing for them. And besides, Gabriel, Maria and Lucia Solace-di Angelo sounds way better than – “

 

“Wait, Lucia? Where did she come from?”

 

“She’s the one we’re adopting after Gabriel and Maria become teenagers and can help babysit. She’ll be our spoiled brat.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah. So anyway, Solace-di Angelo sounds way better than Solace-Montes, and names are pretty important to me, so - ”

 

“But Lucia, really? You realize if we ever go to Italy, a kid with the name Lucia di Angelo is going to get mocked right out of the country.”

 

“That’s why my name comes in between, see? Besides, you're hardly one to talk, _Nicolò_. ”

 

Nico gasped. “Who told you that?”

 

Will smirked. “That’s for me to know and you to never, ever find out.” 

 

“It was Hazel, wasn’t it?”

 

“Nope, your sister terrifies me. Shot in the dark, actually.”

 

“No way. You’re not that good of a shot.”

 

“Ouch, low blow. I do kind of wish I’d met your mom, she must have had a pretty great sense of humor, _Victory of the Angel's people_.”

 

“Shut. up. Like your name is any better.” Nico attempted to punch his boyfriend, but Will grabbed his fists, laughing.

 

“Okay, okay, truce.”

 

Nico glared at him, and his boyfriend released his hands to take his face instead.

 

“But seriously, you're gonna be a great parent. You're already defending our kids from my terribly dorky choices." Will's paused, his expression becoming more serious. "Secondly, and I still can’t believe I have to repeat this again, but I don’t want Paolo. I don’t love Paolo. I love you, Nicolò di Angelo.”

 

Nico sighed, letting himself be pushed back again as Will leaned in to kiss him.

 

“I love you too,” he muttered between kisses.

 

As far as the son of Hades was concerned, they could have laid there in the muddy grass forever, but just then a conch shell sounded, and Will broke their kiss, pulling the bronze ties out of his pocket.

 

“Nico di Angelo,” he asked solemnly, holding up one of the hoops. “Will you risk the death and destruction of Harley, the eight year old who you tried to bribe and who now thinks you’re going to kill his brother, together with me?”

 

 


	31. Mission Impossible: Three-legged Death Race Edition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the lateness of the hour. I have no excuse, except that it's hot and I'm terrible at writing action sequences.

**Nico**

 

It would have been impossible to tell which of his senses figured it out – whether he saw the blades or heard the whistle of them swinging down, or even the soft current of air on his face – but he managed to duck down just in time, dragging Will with him. The son of Apollo made a soft noise of surprise, then thanks as the saw-like blades swung back and forth over them, and it was him who rolled them forwards when the whole mechanism dropped from the tree it was affixed to on top of them.

 

The leg ties had taken a little getting used to, and Nico was glad they’d decided to wear them on the way to the start line at the edge of the forest. Eventually, they’d managed to figure out a system. Will made his steps smaller, and Nico his movements more pronounced, so that the healer would be more easily able to follow any gestures he made. Of course, Will had readily agreed to let Nico take the lead, since he was the more experienced fighter, for which the son of Hades was grateful. That very issue looked like it might be causing trouble among several of the other teams, including the Nike twins and Valentina and Paolo of all people. Nico didn’t want to know how the daughter of Aphrodite had come to be the son of Hebe’s team partner (and was getting evil looks from many of the other campers for it), but it seemed to be a less enviable arrangement than imagined. The Brazilian demigod might not have been able to speak a word of English, but he still seemed to want to take the lead. Nico wasn’t even sure he’d understood the rules of the game.

 

 

The game itself was simple enough to understand. An obstacle course had been set up through the forest, starting at the creek and ending at Zeus’s other, smaller fist. The objective was to get all the way through, following the drawings of golden apples to show the way, without getting lost or gruesomely mutilated by traps set up along the way. First team back would win bragging rights and permission to confiscate one deadly trap of their choice from the Hephaestus cabin.

 

The starting fire had gone off about five minutes ago, and based on the number of people still within sight, Nico estimated that about three groups were lost already. The path markers weren’t exactly easy to spot when you had to dodge volleys of arrows lit with Greek fire.

 

As soon as they’d gotten past the swinging blades of death, the two demigods froze, since they’d been quick to realize that many of Harley’s traps were rigged with motion-sensors.

 

“See anything?” Will breathed, and Nico repressed a shudder as the healer’s breath fanned down the bad of his neck.

 

“There’s something up there,” he muttered. “Three o’clock, on the tree. That look like an apple to you?”

 

Will shifted slightly, squinting. “It looks like… oh no.”

 

Nico took his cue – “oh no” was pretty much code for “duck” at this point – and dragged them to the ground, just as a laser swept the air where they’d been standing. The trees behind them were cut cleanly in half. And the trees behind those. And the boulder behind those.

 

“What the… how did he even come up with that!” yelled Nico from where they were crouching on the ground.

 

Will glanced up, then grabbed his boyfriend’s arm, hauling him to his feet and dragging him into a run.

 

“Don’t know, but we have bigger problems right now,” he yelled, flinching as one of the severed trees came crashing down beside them. “Timber!”

 

“Oh, man, the nymphs are going to be soooo pissed,” Nico moaned as they sped through the trees, dodging trunks and falling pines. They finally ended up in a cave like outcrop at the base of a small cliff, ducking in just as the last trunk whooshed down and got stuck leaning against the rocky wall. A cluster of arrows immediately embedded themselves in it.

 

“Well. That was fortunate,” Nico commented, raising his voice slightly to make himself heard over the sound of more arrows thudding into the trunk.

 

Will gave a deep sigh, like he was trying to get himself to relax.

 

“Petition to blow off this stupid race and make out instead?” he asked.

 

Nico shook his head. “You know we won’t get out of here unless we cross the finish line or get seriously injured. I mean, I could stab you, but that might be a little too obvious.”

 

“I’ll pass, thanks,” Will answered drily. “Guess we’re gonna have to go out there again.”

 

Nico considered. “Well, we are in the lead right now. It might be easier to wait here a while and let one of the other teams pass us to take the brunt of the first wave. I mean,” he gestured at the tree trunk sheltering them from the arrow fire, “we have done our part clearing the traps, I’d say.”

 

The healer looked at him speculatively. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

 

Perhaps because of the adrenaline still rushing through his veins, Nico was feeling quite daring. He gave Will one of his best looks, the ones he’d never admit to anyone he practiced in front of the mirror.

 

Luckily, his boyfriend was quick to respond. “I love it when you send other people to do the dangerous work,” he breathed, surging down to kiss him. The angle was a little bit awkward because of the ties around their legs and the fact that they were still hunkered down in their cave, but they made it work. The healer smelled of sweat and dirt, and the scent was doing things to Nico that he usually blushed to think about.

 

Things were just about to get interesting – Will’s hands were once again playing with the bottom of Nico’s shirt, and the son of Hades was trying to figure out how to signal that he would be more than okay with where those hands obviously wanted to go – when suddenly, a conch shell sounded.

 

“What…” Will tripped and fell over when the bands around their legs popped open, and Nico was immediately ready to step in front of him and cut out any arrows that might threaten his boyfriend, but none came. The son of Apollo twisted around to look at him.

 

“Did I misunderstand the rules? Does the race end when the first group gets back?”

 

Nico sheathed his sword again. “No, I don’t think so. This isn’t normal, someone must have aborted the race. Do you think it’s because of us?” He looked around nervously. After that video of him and Will making out in the Hermes cabin had made the rounds, he’d become somewhat wary of cameras. Although to be honest, once he’d gotten past the initial outrage and embarrassment, he’d watched the video alone in his cabin, and… well. They looked pretty good together. And Will had pretty much admitted he’d saved them a copy.

 

“No way,” Will reassured him. “I remember one time the year I first came to camp, a Demeter girl and her Ares boyfriend had a pregnancy scare after having sex in a tree during Capture-the-Flag. Game didn’t stop for them.”

 

Right then, there was a sound of hooves echoing through the trees, and Woodrow the satyr appeared, flanked by half a dozen dryads.

 

“Will,” he bleated, panicked. “You have to come. It’s Paolo.”


	32. No trigger warning for gore required

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know what this is.

* * *

**Nico**

 

 

He sighed, dropping the medical journal back on to the nightstand and flopping onto his back on Will’s bed. The son of Apollo had been gone for hours now. As soon as Woodrow had found them and told them about Paolo, all traces of humor had dropped from his boyfriend’s face, leaving behind nothing but the healer. Which Nico loved, he really did. Watching Will care for people, all commanding when he ordered about his siblings as they fought to stem the spurts of blood – it did things to Nico. But they had been working for more than twelve hours now, and Nico was kind of over it. He got that reattaching someone’s limbs wasn’t exactly easy, but come on. If Paolo was such a fast healer, why was it taking so long?

 

Glancing at the alarm clock on Will’s nightstand, he realized that it was past curfew. Way past curfew. He’d only meant to come by for a bit to check on his boyfriend, but had gotten distracted waiting for him. The beds in the Apollo cabin were way too comfy.

 

Of course, he could probably shadow travel back to his own cabin. He had to sleep anyway, so passing out wouldn’t be such a big deal. But something held him back, he couldn’t quite pinpoint what. Maybe it was just nerves. What if he went off course again, passed out outside and got eaten by the harpies? He’d gotten so used to having Will around as a safety net, and the healer didn’t have the time or energy to come looking for him right now.

 

Shrugging in a display of nonchalance, pretty much just for himself since there wasn’t anyone else in the cabin, he ambled over to the dresser with the drawer where Will kept his clothes. This was fine, he told himself. Will stayed over at his cabin all the time. Nico had even found one of the healer's T-shirts folded among his own, and not one Nico had kept after borrowing it for a movie night. One his boyfriend had clearly put there on his own.

 

Still, his fingers twitched in hesitation when he pulled the drawer open. The piles looked like they’d been neatly folded at one point, then been knocked over as _someone_ scrambled around in a panic trying to get ready for dinner on time. Nico had walked in on his boyfriend doing it before. His hands scanned cautiously over the soft cloth, flinching back when they came into contact with a pair of boxers. Well, no, they weren’t boxers, the son of Hades corrected himself. Will wore those all the time when he spent the night at Nico’s or in the infirmary, he’d seen them when his boyfriend changed into sweatpants to sleep. These were different. He’d never seen him wear them.

 

Pushing the thought aside, he took a clean T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants out and shut the drawer again, heading to the bathroom to change. He’d showered earlier, after Will had shoved him out of the infirmary for being too dirty, which was ironic, considering how much blood the son of Apollo was covered in by then. After the son of Hades had returned, cleaned of any forest dirt and ash from the exploding traps, he'd spent the day moping around the infirmary, waiting for the surgery to end, unitl Austin had come out and told him Will was ordering him to go to dinner. At which point Nico had taken the hint and gone to wait for him in the Apollo cabin instead. Which led him back to here, wondering what Will would mind more, him using his toothbrush, or not cleaning his teeth at all. After half a second of thought, he grabbed the one he assumed belonged to his boyfriend, based on the bright red cross on the stem, and squeezed a healthy dollop of toothpaste onto the bristles. It tasted like Will did in the mornings, when he sneaked into the Hades cabin before breakfast for a quick (or not so quick) kiss.

 

Once he’d finished and cleaned up after himself, he returned to the main room. It was still empty. Glancing through the windows, he could see the infirmary glowing in the night. He sighed, yawning.

 

It was weird being _in_ Will’s bed, as opposed to on it. When he slipped under the covers, Will’s scent was all around him, almost like he was there. The cabin was warm, warmer than the Hades cabin at least. Maybe it was the windows?

 

He turned onto his back, staring up at the bottom of the bunk above him. He’d never slept here before. Made out here, sure, but this felt more intimate, strangely enough. Being here alone, with just Will’s things surrounding him, laying where the healer would usually lay. They’d stayed plenty of times together at the infirmary and occasionally in the Hades cabin, but he was sure Will would never want to be there alone. Despite Annabeth's makeover, he still routinely complained about how it creeped him out and he felt like Hades was watching him. Which was ridiculous, Hades didn’t care enough about Nico for that. Of course, he never said that part out loud, because he knew the Will would look at him with his big blue eyes full of pity.

 

Groaning, the son of Hades twisted onto his stomach, burying his face into Will’s pillow. He just had to calm his mind, and inhaling his boyfriend’s musky scent of sunshine and anesthetic usually did that. After forcing himself not to think about any of the day’s events, he finally managed to drift off.

 

 

**Will**

 

He sighed, dropping the rag he’d wiped his hands off on into the sink. He was done. Done. At least Nico was going to be happy. There was no way the healer was ever going to be able to even look at the son of Hebe without seeing the cross-section of his arms where they’d been cleanly cut off. And thank the gods it had been clean, or reattaching them would have gone from difficult to nigh impossible.

 

“Hey, Will, I'm going to turn it,” Austin called to him. His siblings had already showered while he cleaned the blood off the utensils before it coagulated. They’d have to take everything by the geyser gods to have it all sterilized again, but in the meantime, this would have to do. The ancient deal the Apollo cabin had with the harpies to allow passage for healers after dark probably extended to the forest, but with the traps from the three-legged death race not yet dismantled, stumbling around in the dark was the kind of thing that got your arms sawed off. Plus, he was exhausted. He really needed to work on his stamina in the operating room.

 

“Yeah, sure, see you in a minute!” he called back, being answered only by the sound of the outside door whooshing shut. As he showered off in the infirmary bathroom, he considered sneaking over to the Hades cabin instead of Apollo’s for the night. He doubted the harpies would be able to tell the difference, and he really wanted to see Nico. But would his boyfriend want to see him? Will had been kind of short with him today, kicking him out of the infirmary twice and all. Chiara had never liked when he did that, and had always let him know it. Of course, Nico probably wouldn’t. But maybe he should play it safe. When he was this tired, he tended to have major bouts of “Foot in Mouth”, which Chiara had also been quick to point out. Will resigned himself to waiting for breakfast.

 

After checking on their patient one last time and bidding Kayla, who was on night shift, goodnight, he stepped out onto the porch of the infirmary and paused to take a breath. The November air was cold, freezing almost, but it felt good after spending all day smelling blood. Thanksgiving was coming up, he mused. He had quite a bit to be thankful for this year. The world currently wasn’t in any sort of danger, that he knew of, he and his friends were safe and he was dating the love of his life. Sure, there was the small matter of Apollo missing, but his dad was a god, he’d be able to figure it out, right? And that little communication thing. He realized this was going to be the first year that he wouldn’t be able to wish his mom a happy Thanksgiving, wherever she was right now. It made him feel a little melancholy. Thanksgiving had always been such a big deal back home when he was little. They would go to his grandparents’ house (his maternal ones, not Zeus and Hera, what a nightmarish thought that was). Their entire extended family would be there. He would get to run around in the yard with his many, many cousins (it was a lot warmer in November down south). Everyone would fawn over him when he healed warts on his uncle’s nose. The last time he’d been was when he was twelve. Lee had talked one of the satyrs into taking him down for the holiday. It had been awkward though. His mother had never really gotten around to explaining to most of her siblings why Will didn’t live with her anymore. His grandfather knew about the monster attacks and spent the whole day on edge. They’d ended up getting ambushed by a hellhound while out on a walk and had left in a hurry before dessert.

 

Will shook himself, jogging down the steps. He shouldn’t complain. His family was really great, compared to so many of the other year rounders. He knew Chiara’s dad had a major gambling problem. Alice’s mom was in jail. Even Percy fucking Jackson used to have an abusive step dad. And Nico didn’t even have any family left. Hell, had he ever even had a Thanksgiving meal?

 

He just hoped that his mom had a good Thanksgiving, wherever she was. He promised himself he’d try to write another letter soon.

 

He didn’t bother turning on the lights when he entered the Apollo cabin, figuring Austin would already be sleeping. He’d done it so many times before that maneuvering his way through the mess was a piece of cake. Eyes practically closed, he pulled the sweatshirt he’d worn from the infirmary over his head, not bothering to change before dropping onto his bed.

 

Where a rather nice surprise was waiting for him. Somehow, he immediately knew it was Nico, as opposed to his brother playing a prank on him. Still, he felt around the pillow for the person’s head until he felt silky strands beneath his fingers, instead of Austin's cornrows. Nico mumbled in his sleep, and he smiled tiredly. Trying not to bother his boyfriend, he slipped under the covers next to him, throwing an arm around his waist and curled up to sleep.


	33. Taken Thanksgiving

**Nico**

 

The infirmary was silent. Nico glanced over at the sleeping son of Hebe as he crossed the room. The demigod was fine, but Will had insisted on keeping him on bed rest for at least a week to make sure he didn’t exert too much pressure on his recently reattached arms and shift the alignment of the bones. So instead he spent his days sleeping and being spoon-fed various meals by a parade of adoring girls. Except for Valentina. Apparently, being tied to him when he’d lost his arms had been a bit of a turn off.

 

Keeping as quiet as possible when he reached the door to the infirmary office, he pulled it open a crack to slip inside.

 

“Hey,” he told his boyfriend, approaching him at the desk.

 

Will glanced up, smiling.

 

“Hi. Just in time. I’ll be ready in a second.”

 

Nico leaned down, examining the vials and charts spread out in front of him.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Just preparing a few tests,” the son of Apollo murmured. “With the tissue from his arms, I have a lot more to work with now, so I can be more thorough.” He bent over, using a dropper to squirt a small amount of some golden liquid stuff into one of the vials of blood. “Need to test the cells’ reaction to nectar over longer periods of time,” he muttered, marking up the sheet on his left.

 

Nico watched as the godly liquid floated for a moment on the blood’s surface before sinking in. The blood started frothing.

 

“Um, is that normal?”

 

“What?” Will glanced over. “Oh yeah, that’s the mortal components burning up. If this wasn’t from a demigod, the vial would be melting right now.” He swiftly screwed the cap on the bottle of nectar and moved it and the blood to one of the medicine fridges. Over his shoulder, Nico saw what looked like a moldy sandwich in a plastic container.

 

“Is that sanitary?” he asked.

 

Will smiled reassuringly. “Yeah, it’s fine, I just had Kayla move her penicillin experiment, but it’s sealed in, and the nectar will kill any regular mortal germs. I don’t think Kayla was messing around with anything godly last time I checked.” He closed the door of the fridge and then held out his arm to the son of Hades.

 

“Shall we?”

 

 

 

The dining pavilion was decked out festively, pine cones and the last fall leaves laid out mournfully by the dryads.

 

“So what does this celebrate again?” Nico whispered to Will. For the occasion, all the tables had been brought together as one, and the two demigods were pressed together rather tightly, elbow to elbow.

 

“It’s just another variation on the ceremonial homage to Demeter for providing food to last the winter, and stuff,” his boyfriend whispered back. “It was started by the first European settlers when they came to this continent, to thank the native people for teaching them how to survive and which berries were poisonous, and stuff.”

 

Nico frowned. “Didn’t the European settlers mostly kill the natives?”

 

Will waved his hand. “Well, I assume they were different settlers.”

 

“And we’ve got turkey.”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Why?”

 

Will shrugged.

 

“Was it eaten at the original meal?”

 

“I don’t know.” Will looked uncomfortable, glancing up the table at Chiron.

 

“Oh, don’t look at me, dear boy, we didn’t come this far west for centuries,” the centaur commented upon catching his glance. “Mount Olympus was in Spain at the time.”

 

“Would you guys stop geeking and just enjoy the food?” Sherman interrupted them, leaning over to pull at the bowl of cranberry sauce, his mouth already full.

 

Miranda smacked his fingers away. “Wait up. We need to do the thanking first.”

 

Ellis groaned.

 

“Can’t we just shove some food into the fire as usual?”

 

Chiron shook his head. “I’m afraid not. This is a very special celebration for Demeter. We must adhere to the local customs. Everyone, go around in a circle and tell us one thing we’re grateful for.”

 

Nico’s mind floundered as one by one, the demigods listed something. Some were earnest and way too personal, like Miranda, who gushed on and on about how great her boyfriend was, as said boyfriend turned progressively redder beside her. Others kept it light, like Sherman, who simply muttered “what she said” before attempting to bury his burning red face in his food plate as the Hermes cabin snickered at him. Luckily, they were held up for quite a while by Harley, who insisted on naming all the tools he had in the Hephaestus cabin which he was thankful for individually.

 

What was he thankful for? Of course, certain things were obvious. He had his home, his boyfriend, friends, but that all seemed really corny and lame to say out loud. Of course, he was also thankful that the wars were over, but that would make him seem sanctimonious and holier-than-thou to the others. And if he didn’t say he was thankful for Will, would his boyfriend be annoyed?

 

His thoughts were interrupted by Will coughing.

 

“I’m thankful this year for my wonderful home here at camp Half-Blood, my amazing boyfriend and my siblings and friends.” Will smiled sappily. “And of course, I’m also thankful that the wars are over.”

 

Damn it.

 

The son of Apollo sat back, looking expectantly at Nico, who cleared his throat.

 

“Uhm… I’m thankful that we have marshmallows?” he stuttered out.

 

“Hear, hear!” Connor called out from down the table.

 

On his left, Valentina started reciting all the make-up products she was thankful for, and the son of Hades heaved a sigh of relief.

 

“Hey,” whispered Will, slipping a hand into his. “You okay?”

 

Nico nodded. “I’ll tell you later,” he whispered back.

 

 

**Sherman**

 

“Miranda?” Sherman called cautiously, knocking on the door to the Demeter cabin. Despite it almost being November, it wasn’t too cold yet, and he’d been hoping they could go for a walk to help digest the thanksgiving meal. And maybe stop by the Ares cabin for a bit, he could kick Ellis out, his brother would understand. And even if he didn’t, Sherman could take him.

 

“She’s not here,” Billie told him, coming to the door. “I thought she was with you as usual.”

 

Sherman frowned, shaking his head. “No, she said she wanted to go pray to your mom in the woods, since this is one of Demeter’s special days. She left right after we finished eating.”

 

Billie’s eyes widened. “That was hours ago! I just prayed out by the strawberry fields, I was done in like thirty minutes.”

 

Sherman considered. “Maybe she went to visit Chiara, or Valentina?”

 

Billie grabbed a coat from the hanger by the door. “We’d better check.”

 

 

 

Night had fallen. The demigods had been searching for hours. Every inch of the camp had been scoured within an inch of its life, and Nico, Chiara and Billie were searching the parts of the forest Miranda had liked best with help from the nature spirits. But the unspoken, terrible truth hovered above the heads of all the others as they waited. If Miranda was in the forest, they would have found her by now. His girlfriend was missing.

 

 

Absently, Sherman walked over to the wall of the rec room, where they had gathered, and considered a moment before punching it.

 

His fist went right through the plywood, but the feel of splinters embedded in his knuckles was like a relief.

 

“Sherman, stop it!” The other demigods had jumped at his actions, and Ellis and Nyssa hurried forward to pull him away from the wall.

 

“Come on, we’ll find her. And she won’t be happy if she finds you hurt,” Will murmured to him, cleaning the blood off his fist with a tissue. The healer was attempting to be soothing, but Sherman could tell he was nervous. About his boyfriend being out in the woods, probably.

 

“I should have gone with her,” the son of Ares growled. “Stupid. Why did I let her go into the forest alone?”

 

“She wouldn’t have let you baby her, Sherm.” Valentina’s voice was oddly gentle. “And she’s been in the forest dozens of times alone, she’s a more than capable fighter. She’s probably fine, wherever she is.”

 

“But what if she isn’t?!” roared the son of Ares. Ellis and Nyssa’s grips tightened on his arms. “What if she’s hurt, out there, scared and alone, begging for me to find her while I sit here. What if she’s…” his voice broke. He didn’t dare utter the words. She couldn’t be.

 

“She’s not dead, I know that much.”

 

“Nico!” Will seemed to sag in relief, rushing over to his boyfriend. The son of Hades gave him a weary hug.

 

Sherman looked past the couple at Chiara and Billie. He could read the answer to his question on their faces.

 

“No sign of her,” Chiara confirmed harshly. Billie shook her head. Her eyes looked red.

 

The son of Ares wheeled on di Angelo, who was still being fussed over by his boyfriend.

 

“But she’s alive?”

 

Nico nodded, gently pushing Will’s hands out of his hair and lacing his fingers with his own.

 

“Positive. I would have felt her pass into the Underworld.”

 

 

As Will pulled his boyfriend back into his arms and the rest of the demigods clustered in a huge group hug around Billie, Sherman yanked himself free from his brother and the daughter of Hephaestus, and strode out to the porch of the Big House.

 

“Sherman?” called his brother worriedly.

 

“Let him go,” Valentina cautioned. “He needs time.”

 

The son of Ares forced himself to take a deep breath. Being angry wouldn't do anyone any good right now. He sent a quick prayer to his father, then to Demeter, and Aphrodite for good measure. But it still didn't feel like enough. He and Miranda weren't Percy Jackson, the gods probably would forget his prayers the moment they heard them. He needed someone else. Someone who would care, if not for him, then for Miranda.  Looking out at the stars,  he caught sight of a constellation low on the horizon.

 

“Artemis,” he breathed. “Oh great goddess of the Hunt. Protector of girls everywhere. Help me find Miranda. Please.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah, guess who's coming to visit!


	34. Thundergirl

**Cecil**

 

“’Sup, Markowitz?”

 

The son of Hermes jumped, letting out a rather high-pitched scream that he would later deny.

 

“Thalia?”

 

The daughter of Zeus bowed sarcastically. Behind her, the rest of the huntresses looked him over with equal amounts of disinterest and disgust. For people who claimed to hate daughters of Aphrodite, they sure acted a lot like them around him.

 

“What are you doing here?” he asked, bending down to pick up the lock picks he’d dropped in his surprise.

 

“Artemis sent us a message, said we should stop by for a couple of days,” the lieutenant answered, leaning in to examine the lock to the Artemis cabin. “Any particular reason you’re trying to break into our digs?”

 

Cecil rubbed his head sheepishly. “Well, you know. Maybe Miranda got trapped inside?”

 

Thalia’s expression suddenly became serious.

 

“Miranda’s missing?”

 

The son of Hermes tensed.

 

“Oh. You haven't heard. Hoooow about we go find the others.”

 

 

 

 

“What are _they_ doing here?” The son of Hades didn’t even try to conceal the disgust in his voice, and the huntresses bristled at his tone.

 

“Hey, hey, come on now, cool it.” Will stepped in, rubbing his boyfriend’s shoulder soothingly, holding a hand out to Artemis's lieutenant. “Thalia, nice to see you again.”

 

The daughter of Zeus smiled, starting forwards to hug the healer, but stopped when she noticed Nico’s pointed glare.

 

“How did you even get in here?” he asked rudely.

 

“Oh, Peleus was no problem, we deal with monsters his size all the time,” she answered offhandedly.

 

“You what –“ With a series of swears, half the campers drew their swords.

 

“Oh come on, I was joking,” Thalia groaned, holding up her hands. “Seriously, he knows me. He’s guarding my tree.” Glancing behind her, she pushed down the nocked arrow of one of her huntresses. “Stand down, ladies.”

 

After another fews seconds of tense stand-off, most of the warriors put away their weapons, sheathing their swords and unnocking their arrows. All except one.

 

“So where’s Miranda?” Nico asked threateningly, still holding his sword up. Cecil noticed he’d placed himself at the forefront of the group of campers, like he was shielding them.

 

“What do you mean, you think they have her?” Sherman snarled, drawing his sword again.

 

“Wouldn’t be the first time they kidnapped someone they wanted,” Nico answered angrily.

 

“Oh come on, we don’t do that.” Thalia grabbed the arm of another one of her huntresses to keep her from pulling an arrow out of her quiver. “We take volunteers, not prisoners. Even Bianca – ”

 

“Don’t you dare say her name!” Nico yelled, and Will and Austin had to grab him around the waist and by the arm to prevent him from launching himself at the girls.

 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” Thalia replied soothingly, like she was talking to a cornered wild animal.

 

“I meant Reyna,” he spat. “You left me a note. A bloody note. The last time one of my sisters went off with you lot, she never came back, and you thought it was enough to leave me a note?”

 

The daughter of Zeus rolled her eyes. “That was Hylla and the Amazons, Nico. We had nothing to do with it.”

 

“You signed the note! And you tied her to a chair!” he yelled back.

 

“You asked us to come help you!”

 

“And fat lot of help you were, you couldn’t even handle one guy! Reyna had to do it on her own!”

 

“After we weakened him!”

 

“Oh please, Reyna took you down in under five seconds with her hands tied behind her back and a bag over her head. And you’re supposed to be the best.” The son of Hades gestured at the huntresses. “Do any of your newest recruits know how badly your training sucks? Or are you just going to lead them into danger thinking they’re prepared?”

 

“They’re better than any of the campers here, believe me, we’ll take you in Capture-the-Flag any day of the week!”

 

“Enough!”

 

Chiron galloped up to the circle of demigods and huntresses.

 

“Thalia. We welcome you and your huntresses back. Please refrain from shooting anyone.”

 

Thalia glared behind her, and a couple of her fellow followers put their bows away sheepishly.

 

“Nico. Please don’t pick fights with our guests, they are here to help.”

 

“How do we know they didn’t take Miranda?” Sherman snapped.

 

The daughter of Zeus rolled her eyes.

 

“I swear on the Styx that we did not kidnap Miranda. Or anyone else,” she added pointedly. “Except Reyna,” one of the other huntresses whispered.

 

 

Nico glared some more before sheathing his sword and stomping off. Will shot Thalia an apologetic look before hurrying after his boyfriend, and Chiron sighed.

 

“Your huntresses can set up in the Artemis cabin as usual,” he told the daughter of of Zeus. “Why don’t you come to the Big House, we need to catch up before dinner.

 

 

 

**Thalia**

 

The daughter of Zeus took a deep breath of evening air as she left her meeting with her old teacher. It hadn’t been much good news, but better than she’d feared. She’d had enough major wars to last her a lifetime.

 

Still, the news about the broken down communications had been troubling. The huntresses rarely contacted anyone on a regular basis, and even when they needed to talk to Hylla and her Amazons, they would just show up at one of their distribution centers. She’d attempted to  contact Jason once or twice, but she’d put down the problematic communications to the fact that he was Roman. Maybe after they left Camp Half-Blood, they’d head out to California to check on Camp Jupiter. By way of Los Angeles, of course.

 

“Hey.”

 

She smiled when Will Solace came out of the infirmary, joining her as she headed to the dining pavilion. She’d been there when the healer had first arrived at camp, at the tail end of her last summer. Only ten, and clinging desperately to his mother’s waist before she’d driven off. Technically he’d been undetermined, but his parentage was so obvious, they’d immediately put him in the Apollo cabin. It wasn’t often that demigods looked so strikingly similar to their godly parent’s preferred form. And of course his healing powers had been off the charts. Lee had been over the moon. And also possibly a bit jealous.

 

“How are things in the infirmary today, doctor?” she teased.

 

Will smiled gently. “Just the one, son of Hebe. Got his arms sawed off during a Three-legged Death Race. You’ll probably hear the story in explicit detail from the others.”

 

Thalia grimaced. “Ouch.”

 

The son of Apollo seemed to be mulling something over.

  
“What?”

 

“Do you mind maybe… staying away from Nico, and not talking about his sister, and stuff while you’re here? If that’s okay?”

 

Thalia frowned. “You know, she was my friend too. My sister in arms. Her death wasn’t some joke to me, contrary to what everyone seems to think.”

 

Will nodded. “Yeah, I know. It’s just… he really, really hates the huntresses for sending her on that quest without any training.”

 

Thalia sighed. “Yeah, I have to say, I really don’t know what Zoe was thinking. I definitely remember thinking she was crazy, though. Of course, I thought all the huntresses were crazy back then.”

 

The healer looked at her curiously. “Yeah, that’s right, you joined because of the prophecy, right? To avoid turning sixteen? Now that that’s all over, are you thinking of coming back? Camp Half-Blood really misses you,” he wheedled.

 

She laughed. “Gods, it’s been such a long time since then. I can’t believe it’s only been five years. But honestly, I'm good where I am. The huntresses are my family now.”

 

“Aren’t we your family too?”

 

Thalia smiled. “Of course. But you guys – you don’t need me like my girls do. You’re doing fine.”

 

Will shrugged. “Their gain. Guess we’ll have to see if we can talk Reyna into switching sides. I hear she’s a pretty good fighter.”

 

Thalia smirked and punched his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go get our food. We're probably going to search the forest tomorrow, and we're going to need all the energy we can get.”

 

 

Later that evening, though, she found that she had trouble getting to sleep. It was weird being in a bed after staying in tents for such a long time. Finally, after tossing and turning for a couple of hours, she kicked off the covers, did a quick head count and slipped outside.

 

Finding her way in the dark wasn’t as easy as it used to be. The camp had really changed since she’d become Artemis’s lieutenant. New cabins surrounded the green, and a whole new wing had been erected, though most of those cabins were currently still empty. Still, she found her way easily enough thanks to the glowing torches of Greek fire. The whole cabin reminded her of the quest she’d had to take with Percy and Nico in the Underworld for Persephone, to get Hades’s sword back. That had been one messed up day. But at least the cheeseburgers were good.

 

Climbing the steps, she knocked quietly, trying to avoid drawing the attention of the harpies. When she heard a quiet murmur inside in reply, she quickly opened the door and shut it behind her, before turning. And promptly freezing.

 

Nico hadn’t been the one talking. He seemed to be fast asleep, curled up in Will Solace’s arms as they lay in one of the beds together. The healer looked just as surprised as Thalia felt, frozen half-way through stroking the other demigod’s hair.

 

“Um. What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him like three hours ago?”

 

“Right back at you. I seem to recall you being a son of Apollo, not Hades.”

 

Will turned red. “I’m allowed to comfort my boyfriend when he’s upset.”

 

He shifted slightly, pulling the son of Hades closer, and Thalia noticed tear tracks on the sleeping boy’s cheeks.

 

“Is he okay?” she asked, feeling slightly guilty. Nico had never seemed the type to cry to her.

 

“Nightmares,” Will explained. “Austin and Kayla were there when he had them in the infirmary after the war, they cover for me when I help him sleep.” He looked down at his boyfriend tenderly, dropping a kiss on his forehead. “But what are you doing here?”

 

Thalia shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. And I figured me and Nico had a long overdue conversation anyway.”

 

Will pursed his lips. “Really. So my request this afternoon went straight out of the other ear, then?”

 

Thalia sighed. “Look, there’s a lot a bad blood, I know. We run into each other in messed up situations, we fight monsters, and then we separate without exchanging so much as an ‘are you okay’. It's a terrible recipe for a healthy relationship, and I’m tired of it. And I doubt holding on to all this anger for me and my girls is doing him a lot of good, either.”

 

Will considered. “Could be. He’s been having a lot of trouble with his shadow traveling since the war, maybe this is the closure he needs. But does it have to be now?”

 

Thalia smirked. “Well, you two seem a little… wrapped up in things right now, so I can talk to him another time. I’ll just go do some target practice, it’ll get me to relax. Be good, you two,” she added, winking as she turned back to the door.

 

“Watch out for the harpies,” the son of Apollo whisper-yelled, quickly soothing his boyfriend with a few soft motions when the noise caused him to stir.

 

“What do you think my targets are going to be?” she answered, before snapping the door shut.

 

 

 

 

 


	35. Thalia Talk

**Thalia**

 

“All right, Desdemona, you and Ismene pair up and take Zeus’s fist, be careful of the labyrinth entrance there. Halima and Eugénie, you have the ravine. Everyone, remember to stay in teams, and if anything happens, use your horns. We meet back here at noon. All right, let’s go!”

 

The daughter of Zeus turned back to Chiron as the huntresses dispersed. The campers had been similarly divided into groups, although there seemed to be a little more friction than there had been on her side. Ellis and Cecil had somehow ended up together, and were glaring at Sherman and Will respectively, who’d paired up with Billie and Nico. Two girls Thalia didn’t know, but who were obviously twins, were arguing over some point system in a corner of the clearing, and Nyssa was doing her best to keep up with a young boy as he bounced around enthusiastically, chattering about grenade launchers. Thalia made a mental note to keep an eye out for those.

 

Surprisingly, the only camper left without a partner was Valentina Diaz, who Thalia had met during the Battle for Manhattan, throwing molotov cocktails made with rhum and nail polish remover off the balcony of a rooftop bar.

 

“Hey, wanna pair up?” she asked the daughter of Aphrodite. Valentina glanced up, pouting, then smiled and nodded. “Yeah, sure. No one wants to be with me, something about it being my fault Paolo lost his arms. I mean, what was I supposed to do, let my shirt get sawed through?”

 

“Uh, right. I guess.” Truth be told, there were more than a few band T-shirts Thalia wouldn’t have minded sacrificing someone’s arms over either.

 

“All right, campers, you heard Thalia! We meet back at twelve. In the meantime, stay with your partner and try not to vanish either.”

 

With a little grumbling, and some more glaring, most of the campers dispersed. As they headed in the direction of the creek, Thalia noticed Will grab Nico’s hand and whisper something in his ear. The son of Hades promptly turned red and shoved the healer away, scowling and blushing madly.

 

“So how long has that been going on?” the daughter of Zeus asked off-handedly.

 

“Oh, Solangelo? Technically since the end of the war, but Will’s been pining for years. True love, you know?”

 

The daughter of Aphrodite sighed adoringly.

 

“Oh. Kay. I guess.”

 

“They’re just so cute, you know? I mean, Nico’s all dark and brooding and damaged, like ‘my whole family is dead and no one will ever love me’, and Will’s just raring to prove him wrong.”

 

“Yeah, I see –“

 

“And the whole Nico almost going insubstantial to save the camp, and –“

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“Oh, apparently his shadow travel made him so weak that he almost became part of the shadows, and also he never ate anything or something. You can ask Will, he has a whole rant about it.”

 

“His powers do that, huh?” She thought about what Annabeth had told her, how Percy had almost burned up when he’d woken Mount St. Helens. Her lighting never did that. And her other powers…

 

Of course Chiron had told her what she should be able to do, what most children of Zeus could do. And she’d seen Jason fly. But she’d never asked him if it tired him out physically. Maybe it was a good thing that she wasn’t too keen on using that particular skill set.

 

Thalia’s thoughts wandered further, to Bianca. Whipping out her knife, faster than the eye could see, burning up that skeleton on instinct alone. Could Nico do that? Could Bianca shadow travel? Maybe in her last moments, she’d been able to, maybe she hadn’t…

 

The daughter of Zeus shook herself. Bianca was dead. Nico had confirmed it, so had Hades. Annabeth, Percy and Grover all had seen her ghost. She’d died. But how would things have gone if she’d had more training? If she’d been able to get herself out of there.

 

Nothing but ifs left, she thought bitterly.

 

“Let’s just concentrate on finding Miranda,” she interjected grimly.

 

 

Hours later, at the meeting point, they still had nothing, Thalia noted dejectedly. It was like the girl had vanished into thin air. No sign of a struggle anywhere, other than a bunch of felled trees and scorch marks in the immediate vicinity of where the Three-legged Death Race had taken place. And Thalia may not have been much of a crime scene investigator, but even she could tell those were much older than the kidnapping. Vanishing. Whatever. None of the nature spirits had seen anything. None of the satyrs either, or the birds they’d talked to.

 

“Maybe she finally achieved the dream of every child of Demeter to become an actual plant,” Chiara Benvenuti, a girl Thalia remembered from the undetermined cabin, muttered under her breath as the search parties headed to lunch.

 

“Maybe Zeus dressed as a bald eagle and carried her off to Mount Olympus, and she’ll turn up again in a few months, but pregnant.” Connor joked. He gave a grunt of pain when Thalia punched him in the shoulder. “What? It’s been known to happen.”

 

Sherman started to stalk over to the son of Hermes, but Nyssa and Billie grabbed his arms. “He’s only kidding, Sherm. Demeter would blow a gasket if her brother did that.”

 

“You mean like she did when Hades kidnapped Persephone?” Cecil pointed out. “Has anyone checked the Underworld yet, maybe the Lord of the Dead wants to trade in his wife for a newer model.”

 

This time it was Valentina who punched the son of Hermes in the side, leaving him gasping for breath.

 

“Don’t,” she warned.

 

“She’s not there, I already checked,” Nico called irritatedly from the back of the group. Everyone turned to give him a look.

 

“What?” he asked defensively. “You think I don’t know my father? Forget trading in Persephone, he’d do it just to piss off Demeter.”

 

Will wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders, rubbing his side comfortingly, and the son of Hades twisted around so he could rest a hand on the healer’s.

 

 

“All right, everyone, enough with the conspiracy theories,” Chiron chided as they all settled at their respective tables. Thalia was more than pleased to be at Artemis’s with the other huntresses. She did not miss eating alone at her father’s stone cold slab of rock. “I’ve already made a few calls to my contacts on Mount Olympus, and based on the accounts of multiple assistants and, ahem, personnel, Miranda is not with any of the gods. Please just enjoy your lunch, and remember, we continue the search at one o’clock.”

 

“Actually, I need to go check on Paolo in the infirmary,” Will said apologetically. “He should be fine, but he’s been alone all morning and I’d rather not take any chances.” He glanced at the son of Hades, who was sitting next to him at the Apollo table for some reason. “You going to be okay?”

 

Nico nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, you can go.”

 

The son of Apollo frowned suspiciously, before raising his voice.

 

“Hey, who’s going to team up with Nico, any volunteers?”

 

Most of the huntresses looked on in mild disgust at the idea of taking a boy into their team, but Thalia jumped at the opportunity.

 

“I’ll take him,” she called out.

 

Will transferred his suspicious look to her

 

“Yeah, we can totally take him,” Valentina added. The healer looked slightly mollified, but still made an “I’m watching you” sign at the daughter of Zeus over his boyfriend’s head before turning to leave.

 

“Nice, threesome,” Valentina commented cheerfully, and the son of Apollo turned back.

 

“You know what, Paolo will be fine, I can just –“

 

“Go,” commanded Nico in a bored tone.

 

Will glanced down at him, licking his lips nervously.

 

“Fine. See you later, babe.”

 

Nico’s cheeks colored slightly when Alice mouthed the word “babe”, and Connor snorted into his pudding, but otherwise didn’t comment.

 

“Yeah, see you later.”

 

 

**Nico**

 

“So what was it that Will didn’t want you to to talk about with me?”

 

The daughter of Zeus glanced over, kicking a bunch of dead leaves out of the way.

 

“You caught that, huh.”

 

Nico shrugged. “It’s Will. He’s not as discrete as he thinks he is.” Even the son of Hades could hear the fondness in his own voice.

 

Thalia smiled. “Yeah. Apollo boys, am I right?”

 

Nico gave a tight smile back. Time to get this over with.

 

“It’s Bianca, isn’t it.”

 

The daughter of Zeus’s face dropped, and she nodded.

 

“Yeah. It is.”

 

Nico waited.

 

Thalia took a deep breath. “I know you’re mad at the huntresses, and I understand why. Honestly, I do. It was completely irresponsible of Zoe to send a novice into the field like that. In her defense, they were kind of backed against the wall at the time, what with Artemis getting kidnapped, and all. But still.”

 

The son of Hades gave a curt nod, but his cousin wasn’t finished.

 

“I also think you’re mad at us for accepting Bianca. Which I can also understand. Losing Jason was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. I can’t imagine how much it would hurt if he walked away from me willingly.”

 

Nico tensed.

 

“We call them exchange huntresses. They come for a year, maybe two. Get away from their responsibilities, from boys for a while, take advantage of the freedom. Learn to fight. But they never stay. They have loved ones outside of the Hunt, people they want to get back to eventually. People who matter more.”

 

Thalia looked at him head on, at least until she almost walked into a tree.

 

“Bianca would never have stayed with us for longer than a few years. She loved you too much for that, I know it. She would have come back to you.”

 

Nico forced himself to stay impassive, even though his insides were roiling. He kept walking straight on, head first into a shadow.

 

“Nico? Nico! Hey!” He heard the two girls yell, but the shadows whipped their voices away.

 

When he emerged in the shadow of the infirmary door, he stumbled and Will looked up from his charts, rushing over.

 

“Angel, you okay?”

 

Nico shook his head, curling his hands in his boyfriend’s shirt and collapsing into him.

 

She would have come back to him. Why did knowing this feel like losing her all over again?

 

Eventually, the sobs subsided and he managed to catch his breath, take in his surroundings. He was sprawled across Will’s lap, the healer holding him securely against his chest as he sat on the floor, back to the wall. Paolo was craning him neck from his bed, trying to catch a glimpse of them.

 

“I warned her not to talk to you,” his boyfriend grumbled, rubbing his back comfortingly. “I knew something like this would happen.”

 

Nico shook his head. “No. I’m glad. I needed to know,” he corrected. Will hummed disapprovingly under his breath, but simply pulled Nico back into his chest.

 

“Nico!”

 

The door to the infirmary burst open, and Thalia charged in, Valentina and a couple of huntresses and campers hot on her heels.

 

“Oh thank the gods you’re okay,” she gasped, falling to her knees next to them. “I thought you might have been taken as well.”

 

“Yeah, seriously, don’t _do_ that,” Valentina panted, bending over to lean on her thighs.

 

“Is everything all right?” Connor called from behind them. “Nico still here?”

 

“Yeah,” Thalia answered. “He’s here.” She reached out with both arms and unceremoniously pulled Nico off Will’s lap and into her own, hugging him tightly.

 

“Don’t scare me like that,” she muttered into his hair. “I already lost one of you, I can’t lose another.”

 

Nico nodded wordlessly into her silvery coat, feeling oddly comforted.

 

 

“Is the search over?” asked Austin, strolling in. “Looks like it, everyone’s here. Including the lovely ladies.” He winked at one of the huntresses and she gave him the finger without even looking.

 

“Not quite,” she counted. “We’re still short two campers. The fat son of Ares and the son of Hermes who was trying to break into the Artemis cabin?”

 


	36. Bianca Nieve

**Nico**

 

“Well… let us know if they turn up.” Thalia’s words were resigned. It was unusual to see her without her normal fire and rage, but Nico knew how she felt. The huntresses had stayed for two weeks, combing the forest and grounds in groups of four, but the missing demigods were nowhere to be found.

 

“Yeah, we will.” They stood there awkwardly for a moment, the cold December wind blowing around them. Nico could see the snowflakes falling on the other side of the camp’s barrier. Every once in a while, Peleus would let out a snort of steam and the thin layer of frozen snot on his nostrils would melt. “So… take care?”

 

Thalia smirked.

 

“Come here.” And before the son of Hades knew it, he’d been dragged into a parka-padded hug.

 

“You stay safe, all right?” The daughter of Zeus pulled back, looking at him worriedly with her storm cloud eyes. “No need to be a hero.”

 

Nico nodded, and Thalia pulled him back in for a brief second, then let him go and cleared her throat.

 

“Okay, huntresses, move out.” She gave the campers gathered on top of the hill a brief wave. “Bye guys. See you next time.”

 

A set of goodbyes rippled through the sparse ranks of the remaining demigods as the lieutenant turned away and jogged over to join her sisters.

 

“Well then,” Chiron commented awkwardly. “I suggest you all take the morning off while we reorganize your schedules to account for our missing campers. In the meantime, everyone should stay in pairs. Use the buddy system.”

 

“’Cause that did Cecil and Ellis a whole lot of good,” Connor muttered under his breath. Will clapped him on the shoulder.

 

“Come on guys, we all stand a better chance this way. Now I’m discharging Paolo today, who wants to come with?”

 

Nico smiled to himself as his boyfriend was followed to the infirmary by a group of chattering demigods.

 

 

**Will**

 

 

“Nico? Nico!”

 

The son of Apollo cursed under his breath. The sword-fighting arena was empty, all the practice swords in their places and the straw dummies still more or less intact.

 

“Hey Will, wait up, we’re supposed to stay in pairs.” Austin rushed after him into the arena. “Is he here?”

 

Will shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it.” He cursed again, spinning in a circle with his hands clenched in his hair.

 

“Calm down, he’s probably somewhere around here.”

 

The healer whirled on his brother.

 

“Where, then? He’s not at his cabin, or ours, or the infirmary, and he’s not here, where else would he be?”

 

Austin raised an eyebrow. “Um, anywhere else in this camp? You know he’s allowed to move around and stuff without your permission, right?”

 

Will stomped his foot. “But we’re supposed to stay in pairs!”

 

“Uh, yeah. But you’re not the only person he could be paired with.” His brother paused. “Wait, that came out wrong.”

 

The elder son of Apollo didn’t hear the rest of what he said, already jogging out of the arena.

 

 

 

He spotted him by chance as he was running down to the lunch pavilion, Austin hot on his heels. His boyfriend was standing right inside the door of the Demeter cabin, giving Billie a hug. The sole remaining daughter of Demeter at camp looked like she hadn’t slept since her sister’s disappearance, and Will made a mental note to get her a sleeping pill or something as he strode over.

 

“Hey, Will –“ Nico started before the healer yanked him into a hug. With the son of Hades pressed up against him, solid and very much not missing, he finally felt like he could breathe again.

 

“Um, are you all right?”

 

Will breathed in the scent of his boyfriend’s shampoo for a few seconds longer before reluctantly letting him go.

 

“Yeah, fine, sorry.”

 

“He just thought you’d gone missing,” Austin supplied unhelpfully, panting hard as he finally caught up to them. Billie gave half a sob before disappearing back into her cabin and slamming the door behind her.

 

“Nice going, guys,” Nico snarled. “I just got her to stop crying five minutes ago.”

 

Austin winced. “My bad. Hey, how come you were the one doing it?”

 

Nico shrugged. “She wanted to make sure Miranda was still alive. Which she still is,” he added. “And I have an okay relationship with Persephone, so I figured – yeah.”

 

“Working on your bedside manner, Dr. di Angelo?” Will asked, trying to smile through his overwhelming feeling of relief. Although he was learning fast about healing, they still routinely laughed about his boyfriend’s treatment of patients. Well, Will laughed. Nico mostly scowled. The son of Hades shoved him on the shoulder and stomped off the porch of the Demeter cabin. The son of Apollo hurried to follow.

 

“Hey, you mind coming in here quick?” he asked, wrapping an arm around his waist and drawing him up the stairs of the Apollo cabin porch. “Austin, take a hike,” he added when his brother made to follow them.

 

“But we’re supposed to stay in – “

 

“Kayla! Time for your guitar lesson. Take Austin to the music pavilion!”

 

“Seriously guys? Can’t you make out in the Hades cabin?” his sister asked grumpily, stomping out the door. Will waited till she was mostly out to slam it in their faces before turning back to his boyfriend. Nico was completely red in the face, but nevertheless smiling at him flirtatiously through his lashes. He grinned, taking a moment to admire him before pulling him close again for a kiss.

 

 

“Hey, you okay?” Nico interrupted after a few soft presses to his lips.

 

“Hm,” hummed Will, leaning back in. But his boyfriend pulled back, pressing a hand to his lips.

 

“Solace, come on. You’ve spent the last week freaking out every time I so much as leave your sight.. Tell me what’s going on. Now.”

 

The healer sighed, letting himself get pulled onto his bed.

 

“I guess I’m just worried,” he admitted. “Miranda and Ellis were two of our strongest demigods, power-wise, and you’re _the_ strongest. I keep thinking, if they’re picking us off one by one…”

 

Nico snorted. “Not right now, I’m not. Your little therapy sessions with Chiron – well, they’re okay, but they haven’t exactly helped with the shadow travel.

 

“Give them time,” Will chided. “But after almost seeing you disappear this summer…”

 

He closed his eyes, willing himself not to think about it. To his surprise, a cool hand threaded through his hair, pulling his head down until it was laying on his boyfriend’s chest.

 

“I’m not going anywhere,” Nico promised quietly. Will nodded, hooking an arm around his waist and just holding on.

 

 

 

 

** Nico **

 

They did the ceremony  in the dark, after dinner .  It was close to freezing out, and snow had started to fall around lunch time, but no one complained, which the son of Hades was grateful for.  The 19 th of December. Five years. Already five years. Nico looked across the hearth. Connor had been here, Nico remembered he’d been sleeping in the bunk opposite his when he’d woken from the nightmare, panting, desperately telling himself it was just a dream. She wasn’t dead.

 

H looked down at the shroud. Valentina and Malcolm had helped him sew it. White, emblazoned with an image of Cerberus that Hazel had drawn for him once. Bianca had loved dogs.  And Kayla had insisted on adding a fringe of arrow fletchings.

 

He remembered when he’d first found out about the Greek tradition of burial shrouds, when Chiron had asked him to help out with the memorial service for the fallen demigods. Later that night, he’d made a crude one for his sister with a bed sheet, burning it alone in the forest after saying good-bye to her ghost for the last time. But this one was much nicer.

 

After uttering the final words of the ancient hymn to his father, he let the silk slip through his fingers and into the pyre. The flames shot up, the heat hitting him in the face, and he felt Will’s arm around his shoulders, drawing him back. His mind blank, he stared into the flames.

 

She was gone. Long gone and never coming back, reincarnated somewhere in the world without him. But that was okay. He glanced up from the flames and saw a slim figure standing on the other side of the pyre. Lady Hestia gave him a soft, knowing smile. 

 

Thank you, he mouthed at her.

 

She nodded.  Harley sneezed from the smoke,  Will’s arm curled tighter around him, and when Nico looked back, she was gone.

 

But that was okay. He knew what she’d meant. He was home now, with his family.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one's a bit of a downer, I'm moving to a different country next week, so I've been alternating between packing, crying and writing. Next week though, I promise it gets a lot fluffier.


	37. An Appropriate Stopping Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally the wrong season but who even cares.

**Nico**

The son of Hades groaned when something soft hit him, curling closer to Will’s side to get away from the onslaught.

“Come on, guys, wake up. It’s Christmas morning, let’s wake up bright and early,” sang Austin in an awful contralto reminiscent of Mrs O’Leary’s more high pitched howls. Nico groaned again, throwing an arm over Will’s chest when his boyfriend tried to sit up.

“Too early,” he muttered. Will chuckled, shaking Nico’s head where it was propped against his chest.

“Sorry, but there’s no getting rid of them,” he apologized, using the arm wrapped around the son of Hades to pull him into a sitting position. As soon as he let go, Nico let himself flop forwards, landing face first in Will’s sheets. They had stayed up late last night, hanging around the potted Christmas tree Billie had made them, because apparently, the nymphs categorically refused to let one get chopped down just for the holiday. The dryad the tree belonged to had seemed to enjoy the vacation though, laughing along in the Big House living room with the rest of them, feeding Seymour the stuffed tiger head Christmas cookies until his cheeks bulged like a hamster’s. Nico had enjoyed it a lot more than he thought he would enjoy a dozen teenagers crammed together on three couches. The decorated tree might be new, but Austin and Kayla had led them in a series of Christmas carols that reminded the son of Hades of Mass back in Venice. His mother would put on her best dress, her long gloves, and the jewelry Hades had gifted her. He and Bianca were cleaned up by the servants and dressed in their stiff formal clothes before they got into Grandfather’s boat to go to church. He didn’t think Hades had ever been with them – sometimes he wasn’t even sure whether he remembered any of this correctly, or if they were just daydreams inspired by the old Italian movies Malcolm made them watch occasionally in an attempt to jog Nico’s memories. (Nico was finding that increasingly, his mother would appear to him in his dreams with the features of Dria Paola.)

 

“Come on,” laughed Will, tugging him upright again. Nico let himself go completely slack, putting all his weight on the son of Apollo, who fell back with an “ouf” sound.

“Guys, why don’t you go ahead to the big House together, we’ll join you in a bit,” he heard Will tell his siblings. After some shuffling and snickering the son of Hades was too tired to heed, the door slammed, letting in a gust of cold wind. Nico cuddled closer to his boyfriend again pulling the covers tighter. Will sighed, carding a hand through his hair.

“Seriously though, you going to get up? You know they can’t start opening presents until everyone is there. Camp tradition.” Nico cracked an eye open to glare at the healer.

“That’s a stupid tradition,” he mumbled, finally sitting up on his own. He looked around the empty Apollo cabin, sorting through his memories of the previous evening.

“How’d I get here anyway?” he asked.

Will propped himself on his elbow, running a hand down Nico’s side, and the son of Hades felt shivers erupt in its wake.

“You fell asleep during the caroling, and the Hades cabin was too cold,” Will explained. Nico nodded. Annabeth had explained to him how the heating system worked after the repairs last summer, but he’d forgotten what she’d told him, and when he’s asked Will, he was pretty sure the instructions had been different, meaning he spent most of this time in the nice toasty Apollo cabin these days. Maybe he should ask Nyssa.

Will sat up as well, brushing the hair out of Nico’s eyes.

“Hey,” he whispered, smiling. “Merry Christmas.”

The kiss they shared was one of Nico’s favorite kinds, slow and sweet, like they had all the time in the world. It would always start out closed, until Will licked at his lips, gently asking for permission, and when Nico would open them, he’d explore Nico’s mouth with soft flicks of his tongue, like the son of Hades was the best thing he’d ever tasted, and Nico could just let himself melt into his boyfriend, wrapping his arms around his neck, hand in his hair, to pull him as close as humanly possible, like he could force them to become a single person again. Will’s own arms would cup his face, run down his side to curl around his waist, slipping in to rest just under his shirt at the small of his back like a very warm hot water bottle. When the finally drew back for breath, Will still rested his forehead against Nico’s, eyelashes brushing his cheeks.

“Merry Christmas,” Nico muttered back hoarsely.

“You two better not be naked in there!” yelled Nyssa, her voice accompanied by a banging sound on the door.

“Coming in in five, four, three…” Connor swung the door open at four, hand covering his eyes. Which would have been nice if he hadn’t been obviously peeking through his fingers.

“Connor!” yelled Will, jumping up angrily.

“What?” answered the son of Hermes. “Not like I saw anything.”

“You wanted to though!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t. Seriously, how slow are you two moving, you’ve been in here alone for fifteen  minutes. We used to be down to boxers in half that time.”

“Connor!” The son of Apollo shoved his ex-boyfriend out the door and slammed it on him, blushing madly.

“We’re not going anywhere until you come with us,” yelled Nyssa. “Harley will kill us otherwise, he wants his presents.”

 

Two minutes of scrambling later, the four demigods were stripping off the boots and coats they’d thrown over their pajamas in the entrance hall of the Big House.

“Finally!” yelled one of the Nike sisters.

“You lose!” yelled the other.

“Presents!” yelled Harley, diving head first into the pile of gifts stacked around the base of their potted Christmas tree.

“Slowly now,” Chiron cautioned indulgently as Malcolm grabbed a box that was threatening to topple over onto the seven year old. “Hot chocolate, anyone?”

Valentina had gotten him a bottle of shampoo. And a hairbrush. Both had cards with usage manuals. She only sniffed when Nico asked her pointedly whether she was trying to tell him something, and Will ruffled his hair until it was standing on end.

Malcom had given him a book about the top ten ways in which life had improved in the last century. Nico was pretty sure he’d meant it in a nice way.

Billie and Mark both gave them packs of seeds. Forget-me-nots. Miranda’s favorites. They all had a moment of silence for the missing campers (even though Nico once again assured them that they were definitely alive), and engulfed the two demigods in a massive group hug.

When Nico opened his present from the Hermes cabin, it exploded. And burned off the front of his shirt. Will had hastily draped the shirt he’d gotten from Valentina which “matches absolutely everything, even you can’t turn this into a disaster, Solace” over his shoulders before chasing Connor all over the Big House. The son of Hades could confirm that the shirt did not match charred grey sweatpants.

Nico felt a little bit bad about his own presents. He’d started making them before Iris messaging had stopped working, but Will had convinced him to finish anyway. The communications blockade couldn’t last forever, he’s reasoned. But when they unwrapped the crystals, each specially adapted for a maximum size-to-rainbow ratio, small enough to be easily portable but solid enough not to crack or chip, he could tell he was bringing the mood down, as each camper focused on the people they couldn’t contact over Christmas. Finally, Kayla had cleared her throat and wrapped her arms around him, quickly followed by the others until he was engulfed in another massive group hug.

He’d also gotten Will a big medical textbook that Malcolm had helped him choose. The son of Athena had assured him it was one Will could use in his college studies. The obscene price (he may have been the son of the god of wealth, but even to him, it seemed excessive) was worth every penny when his boyfriend dragged Nico into his lap on top of it and kissed him as everyone around them whistled and catcalled.

In return, Will had given him his very own first aid kit, with everything from bandages to Gatorade and ambrosia packed away neatly in labelled pockets. There was one pocket that Nico only discovered later. It had a picture of the two of them inside, one Will had insisted on taking with his phone one afternoon as they were laying on his bed. The pocket was marked “Reasons to keep going”.

 

Later that day, as they all lounged around sleepily in a mess of wrapping paper, Nico raised his head from Will’s chest, nudging him awake.

“Hey,” he whispered as Will blinked at him blearily.

“Hm?”

“I love you?”

A brilliant smile slowly stretched across Will’s face.

“I love you too, Death Boy. Merry Christmas.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right everyone. I know I said this would extend all the way to the beginning of TOA, but this seemed like a perfect stopping point. Please tune in later this year (probably after this becomes season appropriate) for part four! In the meantime, take care! You guys rock, and it would be a shame if anything were to happen.


End file.
